Released: Friday, October 25, 2019

VAIB | Virginia Voice

Volume 10 | October 25, 2019

Next ONE Voice for Liberties Conference will be September 24-25, 2020! Future conference dates: Sep. 23-24, 2021 - Sep. 29-30, 2022 - Sep. 28-29, 2023

Strengthen
Elections are November 5 for all one hundred members of the Virginia House of Delegates and forty state senators. Whoever is elected, pray for God’s blessing as I prepare for the General Assembly session, which begins January 8.

Educate
The ONE Voice for Liberties Conference was held this past September. Due to the sudden death of my pastor, Don Sumpter, the conference was moved to Truth Baptist Church in Mechanicsville. I deeply appreciate the willingness of this gracious church to host for us at the last minute.

The spirit of the conference was very upbeat, understanding the importance that our churches come together each year to be motivated and educated on important issues that touch us all. I was encouraged by the fact that there was an increase in attendance over the past three years, and the offering was the best in ten years! Praise God for those who gave to meet the need and beyond!

Tim Barton of WallBuilders did a fantastic job speaking both evenings to help us understand the important role religion and faith have had in our country. The presentation on “Separation of Church and State,” a topic few people understand well, was amazing! Dr. Mike Edwards of Share Point Ministries is no stranger to VAIB or Virginia, having pastored Heritage Baptist Church in Woodbridge for thirty-seven years. He closed the meeting on Friday night with a timely and insightful message: “Our Response to Culture.” Oh, how we need to be ready for what the world throws at us. I’m also grateful for the outgoing moderator, Pastor John Godfrey Jr, who closed Thursday night with a session titled “I Am Not a Grasshopper.” What a great challenge, reminding us not to be frightened of the “giants of the land” when God has already given us the victory.

The announcement that future meetings will be held in different churches throughout the state was well received. Several pastors who are from the southwest part of the state thanked me for making the conference more accessible to pastors in that part of the state. Here’s the plan for future conference locations:

• September 24-25, 2020, will be held at Heritage Baptist Church in Chesterfield (Pastor Deron Jackson).
• September 23-24, 2021, will be held at Crossroads Baptist Church in Fishersville (Pastor Heath Spivey).
• September 29-30, 2022, will be held in the Roanoke/Salem area in a church to be determined.
• September 28-29, 2023, will be back in a church in the Richmond area.

If you’re a pastor, I hope you will determine to be in every VAIB conference and will invite other pastors to attend as well. Friends of VAIB, I hope you will invite your friends to attend, especially if the conference is being held in your area.

I was tremendously encouraged by comments from those who attended this year:
“[It] was the perfect blend of information and inspiration . . . [and] was a wonderful retreat of fellowship and renewed vision for the political battles ahead” (Pastor John Godfrey Jr of Immanuel BC in Clifton Forge).

“Praise the Lord that VAIB supports brother Eddy Aliff as their ears and voice in our general assembly. The yearly meeting is vital for each of us to be aware of the issues that our churches are facing. Our prayers and support are needed for this significant work to continue” (Pastor Fred Carroll, retired, now residing in Salem, Virginia).

“The pastors seemed to understand the issues that I presented and to respond well; hopefully we made more men aware of the challenges that still lie ahead” (Speaker Dan Zacharias, Executive Director of Old Dominion Association of Church Schools).

Involve

Our “14K Voices” campaign continues to add more folks to VAIB’s email list. Pastor, will you help VAIB? With elections occurring in November, this month is a great time to highlight VAIB by announcing to your folks how they can sign up for emails and pray for our work at the General Assembly. You can put our web address in the bulletin (www.vaib.org) and ask people to sign up online! If you need additional material to promote VAIB, please contact me at ealiff@vaib.org or call the office at 804-789-1278. Thank you!

In Conclusion

There are at least five hundred independent Baptist churches in our Commonwealth of Virginia. Pastor, I believe your investment in VAIB is prudent. It’s better to be proactive than reactive. Preventing a problem is better than trying to fix a disaster. By working together, with one voice, we can maintain our religious liberties for future generations.

Sincerely,

Eddy Aliff

Rev. Eddy Aliff

Executive Director