wfn.org | ABCUSA: SANTILLI TO LEAD PRAYER INITIATIVE

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

SANTILLI TO LEAD INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES 
PRAYER INITIATIVE
 In support of the ongoing commitment of 
American Baptists to undergird the work of International 
Ministries with prayer, the Rev. Robert Santilli, senior 
pastor of First Baptist Church in Mt. Holly, N.J., will begin 
May 1 as special assistant to the executive director of 
International Ministries.  
 Santilli's leadership of the prayer initiative is in 
response to his involvement in developing International 
Ministries' strategic mission emphasis Go Global and his 
personal experience with and commitment to prayer.  "I 
hope to see people coming together in a profusion of 
settings and connections in order to intentionally live out 
the first mission principle of our Go Global statement," he 
said.  That principle states: "We believe that mission 
springs from God's initiative, is guided by God's Spirit and 
is accomplished through God's power.  Therefore, we 
continually seek the Lord in prayer."
 Santilli will mobilize a prayer network with all 
those who are joined in mission with International 
Ministries, sharing news of mission needs, opportunities 
and God's works as widely as possible in an effort to 
support thanksgiving and specific intercession.  Santilli also 
will facilitate a global prayer effort that will be woven 
throughout the 2002 World Mission Conference in Green 
Lake, Wis.
 "With the coming of the Rev. Robert Santilli to the 
staff of International Ministries we seek to mobilize our 
denomination on behalf of our world," noted Dr. John 
Sundquist, International Ministries' executive director.  "It 
is my hope that American Baptists along with our global 
partners will stoke the fires of prayer, not for ourselves, 
but that the power of God will be released for the healing 
of the nations."  
 Santilli, who has been senior pastor at First Baptist 
for 27 years, has emphasized the transforming power of 
prayer within his congregation.  He also has provided a 
decade of leadership in the Pastors' Prayer Summits, and 
has been involved in the National Prayer Task Force of  
American Baptist National Ministries and International 
Ministries' National Executive Director's Forum.

W032202A.TXT

 -0-