PALATKA, Fla. — An estimated 2.9 million people are affected by disability, and 15% of the state’s children live with a disability. Yet only a small fraction are reached with the Gospel. 

“Only 5 to 10 percent of the world’s disabled are effectively reached with the gospel, making the disability community one of the largest unreached — some say under-reached — hidden people groups in the world,” said Joni Eareckson Tada, founder of Joni and Friends. 

At First Baptist Church of Palatka, Pastor Ron Smith and his wife, Christa, are working to change that. Their journey into disability ministry began with their son Ryan, who was born with CHARGE syndrome and is profoundly deaf. Christa learned American Sign Language to communicate with him, leading to a lifelong commitment to helping churches welcome and disciple families affected by disabilities. 

Over the years, she has launched after-school programs, served as an ASL interpreter at Lifeway Women’s events, managed disability initiatives with the Tim Tebow Foundation, and now serves Florida families through Joni and Friends. She combines personal experience with professional expertise to help churches develop meaningful inclusion strategies. Christa also serves on the Southern Baptist Disability Ministry Task Force, appointed by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. 

In 2023, First Baptist partnered with Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, a historically Black congregation, to participate in disability-inclusion training through Joni and Friends. The cross-cultural collaboration allowed the churches to serve what they describe as a “third culture” — the disability community — by bringing together two congregations with a shared mission. The training focused on practical tools, cultural awareness and creating a sustainable culture of welcome. 

The partnership helped launch Palatka’s first Night to Shine event in 2024, a Tim Tebow Foundation program that celebrates people with disabilities while also providing support for parents and caregivers. 

Over the past two years, First Baptist has expanded accessibility through ASL-interpreted services, adaptive facilities and intentional inclusion across children’s, youth and adult ministries. Young adults are fully integrated into the college ministry and church choir, reflecting the long-term impact of the effort. 

When asked what they would share with other Florida Baptist churches, the Smiths said families affected by disability “are profoundly used by God,” and that the role of the church is “to walk alongside them, disciple them and welcome them into fellowship.” 

“It’s worth the risk and investment, and God will bless churches that choose to prepare for and invite these families in,” they said. 

Through Joni and Friends training, Night to Shine and cross-cultural partnership, First Baptist Church of Palatka is demonstrating that disability ministry is both a mission field and a practical way to live out the Gospel while serving one of Florida’s most underserved communities. 

Editors Note: The stats in the opening sentence are based on the 2025 Able Trust Annual Survey and Florida Department of Education data.

Trees for Hope is a ministry of Summit Church in Homestead that raises funds for disaster relief and local missions by selling freshly cut Christmas trees and wreaths each holiday season. Since 2016, trees are shipped directly from a small farm in North Carolina and set up at a lot hosted by Heritage Market on Krome Avenue. The tree lot opens on Thanksgiving Day and remains open until every tree is sold.

This year, the 720 trees sold out completely in less than two weeks.

Alex Pecina, Summit Church pastor, says that the ministry started in 2016 with an order of 150 trees and the desire to raise funds for people in the community who had been affected by the hurricanes and tropical storms that year.

Pecina, a Florida native, recalls how hurricane Andrew devastated his community after making landfall as a category 5 hurricane in 1992, becoming one of the most destructive storms in U.S. history. When the Red Cross showed up to help with recovery, 8-year-old Pecina witnessed the hope and relief the community felt. Through the funds raised from Trees for Hope, Pecina wants to bring the hope of the Gospel and relief found in Christ to those facing hardship after devastation.

Christmas tree shoppers had two ways of joining the mission. They could add a donated tree during check out or drop by to purchase a tree specifically to donate without no purchase for themselves necessary.

In the past, funds raised through Trees for Hope have supported disaster relief efforts in the Florida Keys, the Florida Panhandle, Southwest Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Haiti. In addition to disaster response, proceeds have benefited local nonprofit organizations, schools, and homeless outreach efforts in the Homestead area.

This year, the ministry was also able to provide free Christmas trees to 90 families in the local community, ensuring that households facing financial hardship could still celebrate the season.

Volunteers from Summit Church staffed the tree lot throughout the season, helping customers, accepting donations, and engaging with neighbors. For Summit Church, the Trees for Hope ministry as a simple but meaningful way to build relationships and demonstrate Christ’s love in practical ways.

“We are grateful for everyone who came out, bought a tree, donated, served under the tent, and showed up with so much heart,” church leaders shared in a message to the community. “Your generosity truly makes a difference.”

MARY ESTHER, Fla. — Military men, women and families looking for a home church while stationed along the Gulf Coast are welcomed with open arms at many Florida Baptist churches—whether they are in the area for a few months or several years.

“Our heart is for immediate connection, discipleship and for military members to find a place to use their gifts,” said David Falldine, pastor of Sunrise City Church. The church, located less than a mile from Hurlburt Field, hosts monthly gatherings to help families build relationships and find community quickly.

Military families are often far from home and need a strong support system. Sunrise City Church saw the need and answered the call to serve those who serve by investing in military families and inviting them to “do life together.” One way pastors do this is by working out with service members.

“I’ve committed to working out with some of the military guys, and one of my close friends is an Army 7th Group guy who works out with our worship pastor and me every week when he’s not deployed. Doing life together like this creates natural opportunities for ministry,” Falldine said.

This Thanksgiving, Sunrise City Church partnered with Operation Warm Heart to collect holiday meal necessities for military families. Deployment can take a toll, and the church strives to care for families with deployed spouses. Pastors are also well-connected with other churches in military communities and can help families find a new home church when the military sends them elsewhere.

In addition to family ministry, the church offers a men’s ministry that engages military members through campouts featuring food, fellowship, Bible study and shooting activities. Situated near a military base—and in a town where many servicemen and women choose to retire—the church has “an incredible opportunity to disciple and send people all over the world as gospel lights,” Falldine said.

An estimated 50% of Sunrise City Church’s membership is active-duty military and another 25% is retired military, making the mission field of serving those who serve especially ripe.

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We want to hear from you! Is your church involved in military ministry as well?  Please email communications@flbaptist.org and let us know what you are doing.  

Photo Caption: Aramis Rodriguez Coutin (second from left), president of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention, shares with Hispanic Florida Baptists how God is moving through the Cuban Baptist Church during a Hispanic Fellowship Lunch at the Florida Baptist State Convention in Orlando.

ORLANDO–When life becomes difficult, even overwhelming, Cubans are turning in faith by the thousands to the only One who can offer hope amid the despair.

In the past 13 months, the island nation has been wracked by natural disasters, with earthquakes and hurricanes unleashing terror on the disaster-weary Cuban people. In the final quarter of 2024, two back-to-back earthquakes rocked Eastern Cuba Nov. 10, creating widespread damage and power disruptions in areas still recovering from Category 1 Hurricane Oscar, which struck Eastern Cuba Oct. 20, and Category 3 Hurricane Rafael, which made landfall in Western Cuba Nov. 6, 2024. More recently, Hurricane Melissa hit Eastern Cuba, in the Santiago de Cuba province, as a Category 3 storm in late October 2025, causing devastation and power outages due to 120 mph winds, flooding and landslides. 

Disaster relief from the natural disasters has become almost a way of life for Cubans in the storms’ paths. Although, Florida Baptist churches’ generous giving over the years allow resources to be positioned before storms occur. 

As if natural disasters were not enough for the Cubans to experience, a heartbreaking apparent-gas explosion in May 2022 devastated the historic Saratoga Hotel in Old Havana, Cuba, and also rained destruction on nearby Calvary Baptist Church, the first and largest Evangelical church in the country. Originally, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering was the key fundraiser for the purchase of the building, which was also home to offices of the Western Cuba Baptist Convention, organized in 1905. The Western Cuba Baptist seminary was founded in the building. Annual meetings for the convention were held in the spacious historic church, with a membership of about 1,200. 

Although it’s been more than three years since the explosion, the building is still unusable; repair is ongoing, slow and painstaking. Demolition and clean-up are complete; now the rebuild is getting underway.

“These three years (since the explosion) have been really difficult,” expressed Barbaro Marrero, president of the Western Cuba Baptist Convention. “I have this hope that the whole nation will see the rebuilding. And it’s going to be a testimony of the power of God for the whole nation.”

“I can only imagine the celebration when we can go back to that building again with many people, many churches, even unbelievers, to go and see God’s work. I think (the rebuild) is going to be an opportunity for the gospel. Buildings can collapse, but the Church moves on.”

Running to Jesus

In a recent in-person interview in Orlando, Aramis Rodriguez Coutin, president of the Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention, said, “In Cuba, we have the experience that every crisis results in people coming to the feet of Christ. It’s like those people we’ve preached to for so many years, until they face a difficult situation, it’s as if they’re just not interested. But when they realize that the only solution and the only way out is in Jesus Christ, they have to run to Him.”

Marrero agrees, “God is working; He is touching many people. Many people are realizing the need for God. Many people are finding hope in Jesus Christ.”

He continued, “I think when we are in trouble as human beings, we recognize how fragile we are, which is good because sometimes we think we are immortal, that we have superpower, which of course we don’t have. But when we are in trouble, in trials, in tribulation, it’s easy to realize that we need God, we need to depend on Him desperately.”

Thinking back to the 2024 earthquakes, Marrero said, “When the earth trembles, we have the good tendency to put our eyes on heaven. And I think that’s what is happening in Cuba and in other places as well.”

Marrero stated that the Western Cuba Baptist Convention is reporting “the highest numbers of baptisms in the history of the convention. Most of our churches are packed with people.” Havana Baptist Seminary, which Marrero also serves as president, “has the highest enrollment in the history of the seminary. The Lord is raising a new generation of leaders.”

With the large enrollment, the seminary experiences growing pains, always needing more space and resources.

In Eastern Cuba, “The Baptist work in Cuba grows every year. We have the joy of planting more than 25 churches every year over the past 25 years. It is a work that enjoys the presence of the Lord. I can confidently declare that the hand of God is with us because He works every day and surprises us in a difficult context where there are many problems and many needs, but the hand of the Lord works in favor of His people, His Church and our convention,” Coutin said.

Many of the new churches are launched and continue to meet in homes, even as churchgoers find themselves squeezing into limited space. Some of these homes damaged heavily by Hurricane Melissa still offer a physical and spiritual refuge for Cubans.

Not alone

In facing these crises and the gospel opportunities, Cuban Baptists are not alone. 

Florida Baptists have partnered with the Western Cuba Baptist Convention since 1997 and the Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention since 2013. Through the partnerships, Florida Baptists provide resources, send mission teams and pray in an effort to undergird Cuban Baptist efforts at meeting needs while proclaiming the gospel.

“We thank the Lord for the Florida Convention,” Coutin said.

Marrero is grateful for the partnership; he describes the partnership as an encouragement and blessing. “You’ve been an encouragement for us for many years. We don’t feel alone because you are with us. We have been able to continue. Our request will be to please continue by our side. We are blessed with this partnership.”

During the recent 2025 Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting in Orlando, the Western Cuba Baptist Convention welcomed a pledge of financial resources from the convention to help in the rebuild of a new convention building. Also, Mike Orr, pastor of First Baptist Church in Chipley and outgoing president of the Florida Baptist State Convention, pledged financial resources from his church to undergird Havana Baptist Seminary in its mission to educate Cuban church leaders. A team from First Baptist Church in Chipley recently returned from a mission trip to Cuba, with Orr stating, “As a team, we came away spiritually renewed and encouraged by our Cuban brothers and sisters in Christ. Spending time with them and sharing the gospel with others rekindled our fire for evangelism and gospel conversations.”

Prayer ‘gives strength … encourages us to keep going’

Coutin and Marrero know that prayer is the foundation of all that God is doing through His people in Cuba. They urge Florida Baptists to pray for their Cuban “brothers and sisters” as the gospel changes lives.

“Knowing that the Florida Convention, our brothers and sisters in Florida, are praying for us is something that gives us a lot of strength and encourages us to keep going. Pray for strength; pray that God’s grace will continue to be poured out over our lives.

“Pray that we can continue doing the work that God has entrusted to us. Pray that we remain faithful in the midst of the difficult times we are living through. Pray that we do not give into anything or anyone, and pray that we can keep bringing the gospel to people with or without resources, with or without opposition, but that we do not stop because there are so many people who need Christ Jesus,” Coutin said.

Marrero added, “Pray for the Lord to raise new leaders. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest We can see the need of leaders when Jesus said, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.’” 

He requested prayer also for “the rebuilding of Calvary Church and the convention headquarters. Pray for the pastors and their families–that they may have a boldness in a time like this (and that) the Lord would continue providing for their needs.”

Looking ahead

Both Coutin and Marrero remain hopeful for the future of Cuban Baptists.

“We believe that the future of the church is in God’s hands; we can understand that the church stands firm. The church keeps moving forward. The church continues to grow, and the Lord continues to plant churches in other places because nothing, no one, can stop the Church of Christ, and circumstances will never be able to overshadow the love of the church,” Coutin said.

“I think that the best day for Baptists in Cuba is in the future,” Marrero said.

To contribute financial gifts to the Western Cuba Baptist Convention or the Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention–please send checks payable to the Florida Baptist Convention, 6850 Belfort Oaks Place, Jacksonville, FL 32216. In the memo line on the check, designate either Eastern Cuba Baptist Convention or Western Cuba Baptist Convention. Further designating funds to specifics ministry may also be written.  Please email communications@flbaptist.org with any questions. 

Florida Baptist Disaster Relief and Send Network remain committed to supporting recovery efforts in Jamaica following the devastation of Hurricane Melissa in October 2025. The Category 5 hurricane was among the most powerful storms ever to tear through the Atlantic.

Billy Ray, a retired international missionary and minister who attends First Baptist Church Wildwood, and JD James, a member of Central Baptist Church in Monticello, were among the first Florida Baptist Disaster Relief team members to set foot on the ground in Jamaica. Joining Send Network in partnership with the Jamaica Baptist Union, volunteers worked to repair roofs on local churches.

Local churches have become sources of hope and help for people who are displaced and without access to daily necessities such as clean water and food. Functioning as relief centers, churches are distributing food and supplies to community members.

The team has faced challenges due to widespread infrastructure damage. With only one main road open, heavy traffic has hindered progress. Volunteers leave their hotel at 5:30 a.m. and make multiple trips to transport team members between the hotel and the church. “Traveling in hurricane-affected areas is always challenging, but Jamaica brought it to a whole new level,” James said. “Our group had to turn around several times after hours of travel because roads were washed out or flooded.”

Supply chain disruptions have also made sourcing materials difficult, with many suppliers out of stock on construction items needed for repairs.

“Serving was a great reset for me,” James said. “It was amazing to see storm survivors praising God for their lives being spared. Instead of looking at all the material things they had lost, they were grateful for the gift of life.”

Florida Baptist Disaster Relief plans to maintain a presence in Jamaica through December and potentially into 2026. The primary goal is to help local churches reach a place of healing so they can continue serving those in need in their communities.

James encouraged others to pray, give and serve in the affected areas “even after the news stories end. This will be a long recovery in heavily impacted areas, with rebuilding continuing for years to come.”

Editors Note: To provide financial gifts to aid Hurricane Melissa response efforts, visit the FLDR giving page.

Down a hallway, behind a closed door, Helen Doimeadios, a wife and mom of two, sits alone with a headset, a microphone, and a small screen showing what’s happening in the sanctuary. As the pastor preaches in English, Doimeadios quietly carries the message into Spanish for those listening through wireless receivers.

She doesn’t consider herself just a translator.

“I don’t translate word for word,” she explained. “I listen to the pastor and review the notes he shares, and then I interpret what he has said. Sometimes that can sound like a literal translation and other times it’s not literal, but the words carry the same meaning.”

Often, she translates with her eyes closed, concentrating fully on the pastor’s voice and the message he’s delivering.

“In that little room, my goal is to take Sunday’s message to everyone who came to hear it,” she said.

Doimeadios is one of three volunteers who provide simultaneous Spanish translation during Reality’s English service, a ministry that emerged as multigenerational Hispanic families began attending together. Children and grandchildren were fluent in English; parents and grandparents were not.

Translation became the bridge that allowed the entire family to sit under the same sermon while hearing it in the language of their hearts.

“Abuelita Sitting There, Not Understanding Anything”

At Elevate Church in Miami Lakes, the story started in a similar way.

Pastor Dan Rodríguez, executive pastor at Elevate, remembers sitting in the chapel years ago and watching families arrive together—parents, children, and abuelita in tow. The services were in English, the worship vibrant, the room full. But something didn’t sit right.

“We started noticing that a family would come to church, and they would have abuelita with them,” Rodríguez recalled. “We saw people who were not singing or not worshiping. They had that lost look. When we asked, we’d hear, ‘Oh, I brought my aunt, my grandmother, but they don’t speak English.’ And we thought, ‘You’re willing to sit here for an hour and not understand anything?’”

That burden led to action. Around 2015–2016, Elevate ordered translation equipment and began offering live Spanish translation during the English service, even before launching a Spanish-language service.

What began as a simple solution to serve a handful of families soon became the seed of something bigger.

“That translation ministry grew organically,” Rodríguez said. “It was really the heart behind launching the Spanish service.”

Today, Elevate holds a full Spanish service at 8:30 a.m. that now averages around 300 people in attendance, alongside larger English services later in the morning and early afternoon. Many who use the translation in the English services also know they have the option of worshiping entirely in Spanish at 8:30 if their schedule allows.

Rodríguez says the goal has always been clear: one church, one message, multiple languages, so that families can share the same spiritual conversation after church.

“Our vision is for the entire family to be able to worship together and then go to lunch and talk about what they heard,” he said. “Kids, adults, abuelitos; everyone on the same page.”

Translation as Teaching, Not Just Words

At Elevate, the translation team is intentionally small and selective. Right now, only two people regularly translate.

“That’s not accidental,” Rodríguez explained. “We’re very selective. You’re not just translating, you’re teaching. You’re basically preaching.”

Translators are often identified from within the church’s existing leaders. They are typically life group leaders or seasoned believers whose spiritual maturity and teaching gifts are already evident.

“We choose people who are already walking with the Lord and bearing fruit,” he said. “They’re not brand-new believers. We’ve seen them teaching. We’ve seen their faithfulness.”

Preparation is also key. Elevate’s internal goal is to have the sermon manuscript complete by Thursday each week. That allows the worship and tech teams to load slides and Scriptures and run full rehearsals, and the translation team to receive the message in advance.

“They get to read it, digest it, internalize it,” Rodríguez said. “If it’s a more complicated message, we’ll even schedule a one-on-one call to walk through it together.”

Rodríguez and other leaders will occasionally sit in and listen to the translation live to offer coaching.

“I’ll tell them, ‘You did a phenomenal job. Make sure to use inflection, make it your own content,” he said. “We want them to continue growing as teachers, not just translators.”

The church is also careful to care for the translators themselves. For now, Elevate offers translation only at specific services, ensuring translators serve one service and sit in another so they can also be fed spiritually.

“We Have to Reach Them Where They Are”

For Rodríguez, the translation ministry is deeply personal and profoundly missional.

He grew up bilingual, worked nearly 20 years in the corporate world (most of that with Apple), and learned early the importance of knowing the people you serve.

“One of the things ingrained in us was that you have to know your customer,” he said. “These are not customers. These are our people. You have to know where God has placed you.”

And God has placed Elevate in Miami, a city he calls a “melting pot.”

“We’ll always have a migrant community here,” he said. “People coming from other countries who are learning English but don’t fully understand it yet.”

That reality has shaped how Elevate thinks about ministry and how they’ll respond if future language needs arise.

“I’ve even thought, what if we started getting more Haitian families who need Creole?” he said. “We’re not here to entertain. We’re not charging people at the door. The whole purpose is to share the gospel and show people who Jesus is. If that means we have to show it to them in their language, then yes; translation is essential.”

“Our vision is to see Christ elevated, to connect people to Christ, help them grow in Christ, and serve Christ,” he added. “To do that, they must understand. We must reach them where they are.”

A Statewide Step: Simultaneous Spanish at the Florida Baptist Convention

This growing commitment to translation ministry isn’t limited to local churches. At this year’s Florida Baptist State Convention gathering, a new simultaneous transcription service of preachers and speakers was offered for the first time.

“As a convention staff we are continually trying to think of new ways to be ‘right beside you’ in your context of ministry life,” said Tanner Cade, communications and events manager for the Florida Baptist Convention. “The opportunity of expanding our translation services for gatherings reflects the wonderful multicultural family we have here in Florida, and we want to make sure as many as possible can actively participate in our meetings.”

Attendees were able to follow along by choosing from 10 different languages in real time as sermons, reports, and business sessions unfolded.

Just as Reality Church, Elevate Church, and others are making sure abuelita can understand the sermon on Sunday, the Convention is taking steps to ensure that language is no barrier to participation and partnership across the statewide family of churches.

But for the rural, heavily farm-working community of Immokalee, the need for food assistance was heightened as the largest chain grocery store also closed for an eight-month projected renovation at the same time SNAP benefits dried up. With a large percentage of the population relying on bus transportation, bicycles and foot traffic—the closest grocery store is in the neighboring community of Ave Maria, located 20 minutes away. 

That’s where Fellowship Church, a Florida Baptist church with campuses in Immokalee and Ave Maria, stepped in to fill the gap for its community and church family. 

The southwest Florida church already had a vibrant, weekly food pantry distribution for its community. However, the need for food and basic provisions tripled overnight—heightening the critical need for serving. 

“Fellowship Church is FOR our community, and we’re FOR sharing the gospel with every man, woman, boy and girl,” said Timothy Pigg, lead pastor at Fellowship Church. “Continuing to fill this crucial and immediate need for those in our community is the least we can do.” 

Each week, the ministry packs and distributes more than 350 canvas bags filled with meat, fresh produce, eggs and other pantry items, enough food for a week of meals.

Throughout the week, Fellowship Church members—specifically legacy member 55 years old and older—pick up donations from Dollar General and receive truckloads from Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, Midwest Food Bank, and the USDA. Meats are frozen, and food is sorted onto shelves to be put into bags for recipients to pick up on Saturday mornings.

“Taking the time to feed the personal needs opens the door to reach the spiritual needs as well,” said Charleston Farber, legacy pastor at the church and Harry Chapin coordinator. “We’ve had many opportunities to pray with and share the gospel with people. It truly is one of our largest ministries.” 

Recognizing the food pantry is a vital way of serving and reaching its community with the gospel on a weekly basis, the church invested in additional commercial freezer units, rolling carts, a box truck and additional supplies to reach more people—even dedicating a large portion of its facility and gymnasium to manage and facilitate an ongoing weekly distribution. 

“We have 20 to 25 volunteers who all know what to do when they get here,” said Vicki Clagett, food pantry coordinator and longtime member. “It’s a lot of work, but we have fun and laugh and have fellowship with one another.”

“Our church membership has kept the ministry afloat, and God has provided every need, including the freezers and the food. It all comes from God, and as long as we keep God at the center, He just keeps blessing,” said Clagett.

Currently, more than 350 families rely on the weekly food pantry distribution, with the number anticipated to grow—to more than 15,000 annually. 

“On behalf of our board of directors, I am pleased to announce that this year’s gift from the Florida Baptist Retired Shepherd’s Fund represents the single largest gift we have been delighted to forward to these saints in need,” said Wheeler. “As a cooperating ministry of the Florida Baptist Convention, ‘Stewardship. Simplified.’ is constantly looking for ways to financially resource the many Great Commission causes of Florida Baptists.”

Through the Florida Baptist Retired Shepherd’s Fund, Florida Baptist Financial Services is able to partner with GuideStone’s Mission:Dignity to provide an extra check—a 13th check—to retired pastors and their wives or their widows in the Sunshine State, many of whom spent their entire lives in ministry, often serving at smaller churches which had smaller budgets and were unable to contribute toward any type of retirement fund.

Aaron Meraz, director of GuideStone’s Mission:Dignity, immediately posted to social media his appreciation to Florida Baptists for this record-breaking financial gift.

“Mission:Dignity can’t say ‘THANK YOU’ enough to Florida Baptist Financial Services and Rick Wheeler. The generosity to these Florida recipients and those who served in Florida is truly an incredible blessing!”

Florida Baptist Financial Services has facilitated stewardship and generosity among Florida Baptists and has served as the charitable foundation of the Florida Baptist Convention since 1947. In 2022 Florida Baptist Financial Services began partnering with Mission:Dignity and GuideStone when the Florida Baptist Retired Shepherd’s Fund was launched following the sale of the Florida Baptist Retirement Center in Vero Beach. Since then, the total amount distributed from the fund has been more than $750,000.

“We are grateful to provide these funds from the Florida Baptist Retired Shepherd’s Fund,” said Wheeler. “Together, we are truly making a difference in the lives of these heroes of the faith who have faithfully led and blessed Florida Baptist churches.”

Across the nation, more than $9 million is distributed annually through Mission:Dignity, ensuring a well-deserved dignity and independence to those who have served faithfully in local Southern Baptist churches. Of the 2,700 individuals receiving assistance each year, approximately 60% of the recipients are widows. One of four is a pastor’s widow age 85 or older.

Wheeler said Mission:Dignity and the Retired Shepherd’s Fund are a natural channel to provide aid to those who deserve the highest honor as “heroes of the faith.”

“We stand on the shoulders of these wonderful heroes of the faith who have faithfully served churches across Florida,” he said. “What a joy it is to help meet their needs. May we be found faithful in our generation as they were in theirs.”

To participate in giving to the Florida Baptist Retired Shepherd’s Fund, please contact Florida Baptist Financial Services at 904-345-3222 or by email at rwheeler@floridabaptist.org.

For more information on assistance provided by Mission:Dignity for retired ministers, please go to https://www.guidestone.org/Mission-Dignity.

Sponsored by the Florida Baptist Convention and supported by Miami Baptist Association, the event became more than a banquet—it was a mission moment, calling the church to intercede for seafarers, their families and the global maritime industry.

‘Those who go down to the sea in ships …’

“Those who go down to the sea in ships … they see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep” (Psalm 107:23–24). These words framed the day as speakers reminded participants of the unique opportunity God has given the church to reach seafarers with the hope of Christ.

“God has brought the nations to our doorstep in Miami,” said Julio C. Salas, executive director of ISM Port Miami, one of seven seaport ministries of the Florida Baptist Convention. “Every year, thousands of crew members from over 100 countries dock here. They carry with them the burdens of family separation and spiritual need—but also the potential to carry the gospel back to their homelands.”

Meeting an overlooked mission field

Each year, ISM Port Miami, which partners with Miami Baptist Association, ministers to approximately 30,100 seafarers—27,100 from cruise ships and 3,000 from cargo ships. At the International Port Campus, the ministry welcomes 180–200 crew members daily during high season and 75–100 daily during regular season.

Through hospitality, prayer and the ministry of presence, ISM helps seafarers connect with families back home, receive spiritual and emotional care, and hear the gospel. “Many of these men and women are far from home for months at a time,” Salas said. “They need a place to belong, a place to be reminded of God’s love and truth.”

Partnerships that advance the mission

Royal Caribbean generously hosted this year’s gala aboard Icon of the Seas, underscoring the company’s commitment to the well-being of its crew. “We are deeply grateful for Royal Caribbean’s hospitality and support,” said Salas. “Together, we can encourage seafarers to not only serve passengers with excellence but also to grow in love for God and others.”

The Florida Baptist Convention’s sponsorship of the gala highlighted its commitment to ministries that meet both physical and spiritual needs across the state.

“The International Seafarers Ministry is a powerful reminder that the Great Commission begins right where we are,” said Marc Johnston, director of community ministries for the Florida Baptist Convention. “Through partnerships like this one, our churches and associations are living out the gospel by reaching the nations that God is bringing to our ports. ISM is not just a ministry at the port—it’s a ministry of the local church, serving people who will carry the hope of Christ back to their own countries.”

A call to the churches

As a ministry “of the church, for the church,” ISM invited pastors and congregations across Miami, South Florida and beyond to consider seafarers part of their mission field. “The nations are literally coming to us,” Salas said. “By partnering together, our churches can engage in local international missions—reaching men and women from all over the world right here at Port Miami.”

Be part of the mission

Though the gala was a one-day event, the mission continues. ISM’s chaplaincy, outreach and care for seafarers depend on the prayers, volunteer service and financial support of churches and individuals.

To support this ministry, gifts can be made securely at www.ismportmiami.org/give.

For Caring for Miami’s Mobile Food Market, food is the invitation—but the gospel is the goal.

Caring for Miami is an initiative by Christ Fellowship Church.

“We meet physical needs, but most importantly, we share the hope of Jesus,” said Hannah Ulloa, volunteer and administrative coordinator for Caring for Miami.

“Wherever there’s food, there’s a line. We steward that moment to love people, preserve their dignity, and point them to Christ.”

A bus, a vision, and a bridge

The Mobile Food Market launched in February 2024 after Miami-Dade’s transit system donated a 40-foot Metrobus that Caring for Miami completely retrofitted into a single-aisle market. The ministry grew from Christ Fellowship’s long-running mobile dental outreach; leaders recognized that oral health and nutrition are linked—and that food distribution could become a powerful bridge to spiritual conversations.

Ulloa first served as a dietetics intern while studying nutrition at Florida International University, building the program’s practical backbone:

• Bilingual recipe cards tailored to local cultures (Cuban, Puerto Rican, African American, Asian styles) so families know how to prepare donated produce.
• Risk-behavior and chronic disease guides (smoking, alcohol, eating disorders, diabetes and heart-healthy tips) that connect food choices to whole-person health.

“It was a dream,” Ulloa said. “I was learning community nutrition in class—and practicing it in real time for my neighbors.”

How it works

The market runs three days a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) across 12 recurring sites monthly, including food deserts–communities where residents have limited access to affordable, healthy food–identified by mapping, backpack-program schools, senior adult centers, clinics, and Christ Fellowship campuses. Partners such as Trader Joe’s, Mac Edwards Produce, and J&C Tropicals supply donated food that volunteers sort for quality.

All guests get a personal shopper—a volunteer who walks with them, answers questions, and prays if requested. Guests choose what they take (no prepacked boxes), check out at a bagging table, and receive help to their cars. The average stop serves about 70 families, often with four or more people per household, with some events topping 150 families.

“Choice matters,” Ulloa said. “Letting people select their own food preserves dignity—and opens hearts.”

Powered by volunteers (and reaching them, too)

Caring for Miami has tracked approximately 1,100 active volunteers in the past year. The Mobile Food Market itself is staffed almost entirely by volunteers under a single full-time coordinator.

And the bridge goes both ways. “Not all our volunteers are believers,” Ulloa noted. “Some find us by searching ‘where to volunteer’—and end up invited to church after serving. God uses service to draw them, too.”

Faces that change

One volunteer, Bridget, puts it simply: “People arrive with heavy faces—and leave smiling.”

Ulloa sees it often: A mom in tears at Homestead Senior High School who said free groceries mean she could finally provide a full meal for her kids that week, or senior adults at WellMed locations who feel seen, prayed for, and cared for, or lines that start for food but linger because someone stopped to listen and pray.

Next step: Spiritual follow-up

Prayer happens at every site, but the team is formalizing a spiritual care team—core volunteers trained to present the gospel clearly and follow up after the event (calls, texts, church invitations, next steps in faith). “We already collect contact info for reporting,” Ulloa said. “Now we’ll use it to continue pastoral care beyond the curb.”

The road ahead

Scaling will take more leaders, more volunteers and, Lord willing, a second bus. “We’re at capacity on some days,” Ulloa admitted. “A second unit would let us serve two communities at once.” Until then, the market will keep rolling—three days a week, rain or shine—turning a practical need into a moment of eternal significance.

“Jesus said when we feed ‘the least of these,’ we do it unto Him,” Ulloa said. “Food gets people to the door. The gospel changes everything once they’re inside.”