SCIPIO - The Scipio Baptist Church began its 30th annual missions conference with a potluck dinner Friday night. Four missionaries and their families talked about their work during the six-day event, “A Past to Remember ... A Future to Pursue.”

The missions conference committee highlighted the past and focused on the future of the missions in preparation for the anniversary, Mary Rapp, wife of Pastor Donald Rapp, said.

After the opening dinner, Donald Rapp introduced all missionaries, beginning with featured speaker Tom Broderick, from Olean, with American Mission for Opening Churches. Broderick, a chalk artist, explained his faith during a chalk talk.

Humor permeated the event, and Broderick, originally from Brooklyn, talked about his accent and told some funny stories about how it affected his work as a missionary going out to start churches in the United States.

“I'm from south New York,” Broderick said, “south Brooklyn.” He told of how people reacted to him during his first deputation trip to Georgia.

“Every time I opened my mouth they said, 'Wha'd you say, boy?'” When he was first introduced to the congregation by church officials, it was prefaced by an address to the audience. “'I want you to get out of your mind any notion you have about that terrible place, New York City.'”

Another time he preached his own eulogy, even though he was alive, because the two times that he had already preached at that church it was at a funeral. He told the congregation he was going to give his own eulogy and even published his own obituary in the newspaper.

“I wanted to hear all the good things people say about you when you're dead while I'm still alive,” he said. He also invited those mourning him to donate gift cards instead of flowers.

“I don't want flowers,” he said. “Bring me the gift cards now,” and he received many, even a $100 gift cards to Perkins.

All this led up to a sermon about Christ's dying so that believers might live. Broderick talked about his own spiritual awakening.

“Everyone of you here, are here because of what Christ did,” he said, and told of his experience during the war in Vietnam, when he cowered in the corner of an engine room on a ship and heard the return fire pinging against the vessel.

“I knew at that time of my life I'd go straight to Hell,” he said, “but I got saved in 'Nam as a Christian on Dec. 25, 1972.”

Broderick said he realized that when he was saved there was an exchange, and it was logical for him to give his life back to Christ. He concluded with Isaac Watts' poem “The Wonderful Cross,” which begins, “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.”

With chalk in hand, Broderick traced broad strokes on an easel, creating mountains, a walled-in Jerusalem to the right and a huge cliff on the left topped with three crosses. On the finished drawing, a light projected the portrait of the crucified Christ crowned with thorns in the center.

Other participating missionaries included Evan and Carol Smith with Wycliffe Bible Translators at the Jungle Aviation and Radio Service Center in Waxhaw, N.C. Smith is an aviation trainer of pilots who go into the mission field. He just retired, but his license will be extended for two more years.

Justin and Nicole Kennedy, who grew up in the Philippines, are appointees with Association of Baptists for World Evangelism to East Asia. They will be organizing Asians to set up their own churches there in 2010.

George and Theresa Mekeel are with Bible-Centered Ministry International at Cortland Bible Club Camp.

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or email kathleen.barran@lee.net