CHICO, CA – Recent Royal graduate Ben Shockey signed a professional baseball contract with the Chico (CA) Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League, an independent league based out of Dublin, California.

Shockey, who was a four-year player for the Royals, came to Warner Southern as a walk-on his freshmen year and quickly established himself as one of the anchors in the Royals pitching staff, doing whatever was asked of him, whether as a starter or pitching in relief. Throughout his career at Warner Southern, Shockey continued to show improvement and this past season all his hard work came into fruition as he led the team in several statistical categories including: wins (7), game appearances (19), games started (10), saves (4), innings pitched (85.2) and strikeouts (79). He compiled a collegiate career low 3.05 ERA in his 19 appearances this season. Homeruns for the opposition were scarce when facing Shockey, as he only allowed one homerun all season, while logging a team leading 330 at bats.

By Dave and Kathy Simpson

“You must understand,” Nedko insisted, “Bulgarian people are not very religious. But they are very superstitious!” We hardly needed this reminder when we had the following three conversations in the span of five days. We told an inquisitive taxi driver that we were working with the Bulgarian Evangelical Church of God. He excitedly responded, “My woman attends an evangelical congregation. But I am Orthodox. See, I have my icons hanging here. And I always wear this bracelet with thirty-three beads [representing the years Jesus was on earth]. These give me protection; they keep me safe.

Please celebrate with Global Missions the appointment of Kay Watts as missionary apprentice to Côte d’Ivoire.

Kay grew up in a loving Christian home and was nurtured by the First Church of God congregation in Winchester, Kentucky, and extended family that included several ministers. The seeds of God’s Word quickly grew in the fertile soil of her heart and Kay began her Christian education ministry in the ninth grade as an assistant first-grade Sunday school teacher.

Global Missions rejoices in announcing the appointment of Dave and Bonnie Baylor as missionary apprentices to Kenya.

Dave first felt the call to missions during his involvement with the Navigators at Purdue University. However, at that time Dave felt that God was leading him into professional life as a mechanical engineer. During the next twelve years, Dave was active in the local church through lay church leadership, teaching, and supporting missionaries.

By Marcy Miranda - San Antonio Express-News

Volunteers at the San Antonio Children’s Museum are hardly unusual, especially in the summer, said Lynne Lee, the museum’s volunteer coordinator. But volunteers from Canada, in San Antonio for a weeklong convention, are much harder to come by.

More than 1,700 young volunteers in town for the International Youth Convention of the Church of God took to the city on Wednesday as part of IMPACT San Antonio, an event convention organizers created to encourage giving back.

By Marcy Miranda
Courtesy of San Antonio Express-News 

In a massive hall at the Convention Center, more than 5,000 chairs are set facing the stage, making a half-circle. Several mirrors are placed on the periphery of the chairs, and as young Christians and their counselors listen to inspirational speakers delivering the Scriptures, the mirrors return the main theme organizers are trying to deliver: to reflect.

For students attending this year's International Youth Convention of the Church of God, the week will be spent making new friends, finding ways to be more in tune with their faith, and making changes in their lives to put them closer to God, said Andy Stephenson, lead organizer for the convention. Thousands of students from across the nation are in San Antonio for the week participating in the convention, which happens every two years in a different city.