Dr. Kofi Korsah AGBO President Our Conferences. Thanks for your participation at AGBO 2004 !! Hello brethren, thanks so much for your participation at AGBO 2004 and for your enthusiasm in wanting to see AGBO move forward.  I am happy to report that AGBO 2004 was a great success.  Our number remains small, but I believe the Lord has kept us focused and he will continue to use AGBO for His glory. Since the AGBO 2004 report will not be completed for another month or so (our interim secretary's computer broke down and has just been repaired), I thought I'd keep you updated on the important decisions and deliberations of the conference.  These are largely recollections from my own notes at the conference.  Thus, they should not be seen as official yet.  However, I believe that the final report will not differ markedly from this: Furthering the Gospel Through Pastoral Education (Talk by Dr. Clarence Sexton): 1. Dr. Clarence Sexton, pastor of Temple Baptist church, donated a number of books to   AGBO for the seminary. 2. AGBO president is to discuss with Dr. Sexton the possibility of Temple Baptist helping to procure more books for the library.  Rev George Mallet should send AGBO information on books needed (e.g., commentaries, Bible history…?).   Any books donated will be included with those provided by Temple at the conference and sent to STM.. Partnering for Work In His Vineyard (Talk by Dr. Tim McGhee): 1. We need to seek out like-minded pastors from various churches in the US for greater collaboration. 2. Foundations are event-driven, that is, most foundations will fund particular, short-term projects, rather than fund AGBO/STM on a permanent (or long term) basis. 3. There are two major websites for foundations that will be useful to AGBO:  www.foundationsearch.com and www.bigdatabase.com. 4. Mr. Billy Edmonds, Jr, Director of ITAM (It Took A Miracle) Ministries, has agreed to have ITAM do a search for foundations that are likely to meet AGBO's needs. STM: 1. Find out from Rev. Mallet if the old cafeteria is to be refurbished/expanded, or a new cafeteria needs to be built altogether. 2. Find out if the cafeteria project has found sponsorship yet.  If not, AGBO may undertake the cafeteria building project (perhaps, by applying for a grant from a Foundation, etc). 3. Maintenance Committee should be appointed which will oversee the regular maintenance (painting, lawn care, renovations, etc) of the school.  AGBO may contribute to paint all buildings at the school. Convention Matters Rev. Nana Opoku discussed several points concerning the Ghana Baptist Convention (GBC).  Most of these are included in the Convention Newsletter sent by Rev. Kojo Amo, General Secretary of the GBC).  Membership Drive 1. Rev Ofori was nominated to be the coordinator for the Colorado area.  Mr. Baffour Senkyire (national coordinator) was asked to increase communication with the Chicago and other areas with a view to establishing AGBO more firmly in these areas. 2. The idea of a newsletter every six months or so should be vigorously pursued, especially since we will be meeting two years from now instead of one year.  This will help keep AGBO's presence before members, and keep members as well as partners informed of current activities at the seminary/GBC. 3. The president lamented the fact that AGBO is still dependent almost 100% on dues paid by members, but that some members have not paid their dues since AGBO's inception. AGBO Website AGBO website address is www.agbo.org.  It is still under construction but already contains useful information on AGBO. The website includes a recruitment database of seminary graduates and students in the US.  The database will be regularly updated.  This should be very helpful to all three organizations (AGBO, GBC, and STM).  Also, all pertinent information sent by GBC will be posted at the website.  Fund Raising: An amount of about $2000 was realized at the meeting. Next AGBO Conference AGBO decided to meet in two years (2006).  That year will be the 10th anniversary of AGBO.  It is my personal goal to get the AGBO membership to double its present number, and also to get a Foundation to support a substantial, short term project (e.g., building project).  Please pray with us.   Keep up the dream and remember the theme of the conference:  Furthering the Gospel Through Pastoral Education More conference activities will be posted here.  Please go our our conference achieves page to get further information.