By: Robert Parham
Posted: Thursday, July 30, 2009 6:29 am

An unassuming woman without theological credentials in a male-dominated faith tradition may be one of the most transformative figures at the Baptist World Alliance's annual gathering in Ede, Netherlands.

 "I'm not a theologian. I'm not a pastor. But I know the gospel," said Leena Lavanya in impromptu remarks in the Freedom and Justice Commission meeting, after telling participants that she had started 42 churches in India.

The announced recipient of the 2009 BWA Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award, Lavanya discussed the homes she has established in India for lepers, female sex workers and children living with HIV/AIDS. She mentioned via her information technology training school for unemployed children. READ MORE

"Transformers" is not just the name of a popular movie, it is the mission of those who follow Jesus into a world of desperate need.

Just knowing the gospel is enough to make believers into transformers.

It is good to have some positive role models – especially, as a Baptist, when some of them are fellow Baptists.

Scholar Bill Brackney cited historical figures such as Thomas Hellwys and Walter Rauschenbusch as examples of Baptist activism over 400 years of history.

"Brackney said Baptist activism "is part of our sense of vocation…This is an outgrowth of our social and religious genetic character as dissenters. Dissenters are rarely disengaged or aloof in terms of their solutions to prevailing difficulties. They make statements and they debate. They decline to follow majoritarian ways. They chart new maze ways. They are entrepreneurial…They are prepared to pay a price for their positions…They are not satisfied with watered-down principles.""

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