VALDOSTA —
VALDOSTA — Northside Baptist Church’s new senior pastor’s love of missions is readily understandable considering he was born in India to missionary parents and grew up there, moving to the States when he was 14 years old.
The Rev. Dr. Bill Blanchard, who preached his first sermon last Sunday as Northside’s spiritual leader, served from 1996-1998 as chairman of trustees of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest missionary sending agency in the world, with well over 5,000 career missionaries. He also served as chairman of Europe, Middle East and North African Regional Committee for the IMB from 1994-1995.
His overseas’ experience includes Egypt, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Israel and Yemen in the Middle East.
His wife, the former Lara Robertson, a native of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., shares his passion for missions. Her mission trips have included Germany, Honduras, Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Venezuela. As a dental hygienist, she has cleaned the teeth of hundreds of children at Orphanage Emmanuel in Honduras, Dr. Blanchard said in an interview at his church office Wednesday afternoon. Lara Blanchard spoke to the Northside congregation last Sunday night on her mission trip to Honduras and to give members a chance to get to know her, he said.
The Blanchards have three adult children, all strongly involved in Christian ministry: Will, a church planter in Arkansas, and his wife Sarah; Amilee, wife of Scott Sanders, pastor to students in Macon; and Andrew, who is working on a MD/PhD at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, and his wife, Laine.
Dr. Blanchard has 33 years experience as a pastor (23 of them as senior pastor). He plans to mentor vocational and lay ministers and equip members in evangelism and discipleship through The Pastor’s Class (Discovering the Life Development Process).
“I want people to learn to love the Bible and to understand how God wants them to live,” he says. “Whenever we meet together for corporate worship, I want the people to be encouraged to live lives that honor Christ, as well as motivated to touch others for Him.”
Features
New senior pastor leads Northside Baptist
- Features
-
-
10 most romantic hotels in the U.S.
Valentine’s Day will be here soon, and a romantic getaway may be just what the heart needs. TripAdvisor has released its list of the 10 most romantic hotels in the country, based on travelers’ reviews about the beautiful scenery, friendly staffs and romantic amenities like hot tubs and fireplaces.
-
10 most romantic hotels in the U.S.
Valentine’s Day will be here soon, and a romantic getaway may be just what the heart needs. TripAdvisor has released its list of the 10 most romantic hotels in the country, based on travelers’ reviews about the beautiful scenery, friendly staffs and romantic amenities like hot tubs and fireplaces.
-
Soldier home in time for Father-Daughter Valentine Dance
Staff Sgt. David Smothers shocked his children with his surprise return from his Afghanistan deployment on Friday, just in time to escort his daughter to the annual Father-Daughter Valentine Dance on Saturday evening.
-
Leaps of Faith
Brett and Alicia White each went to Louisiana to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He from Valdosta. She from Hurricane, W.Va. They didn’t expect to find love but they did in discovering one another amidst the devastation. Once married, they made missionary work their lives until recently.
-
VIDEO: Punxsutawney Phil makes his prediction
More than 18,000 people descended on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney for the annual Groundhog Day celebration.
-
Company’s coming!
When the former Cindy Carlisle and her high school sweetheart, David Neck, both of Alexandria, La., got married in August 1973, that whole summer her mom, Lillian Carlisle, taught her how to cook.
-
Extremely good and as close as a theatre
Adann-Kennn Alexxandar reviews "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "Red Tails," "The Iron Lady," "Haywire," "Underworld: Awakening"
-
Having a Ball
Presenter Series seeks home run with ‘Damn Yankees!’
-
A hero by any other name would just be Denton
Meet Denton Dye, a survivor.
-
Coughing? Sneezing? How to know if you're too sick to work
You know this feeling -- you're getting sick. Do you tough it out and head to work? Or stay home and spare your co-workers from your germs?
- More Features Headlines
-
