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By Analiz González
Buckner International
 (DALLAS, Texas) — More than 200 people attended Buckner International's first-ever Go.Be.Do. Global Missions Conference on April 12 at Park Cities Baptist Church.
People came from around the country to hear Buckner directors from Latvia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Kenya, Russia, Romania, the U.S./Mexico border, Peru and Guatemala. The directors shared personal testimonies, described needs and told attendees how they can get involved in missions.
"It was a great opportunity to bring people together and tell them how they can get involved in international and local missions,' said Ken Hall, president of Buckner International.
"Instead of building structures, we need to build people and empower them to go, right now,' he continued. "We don't need a big infrastructure nearly as badly as we need to go out now and make a difference in broken lives. Just as the New Testament church was built -- as they served others -- that's just what Buckner seeks to do.'
Workshops covered topics such as the AIDS epidemic in Africa, medical and dental missions and serving orphan children in Eastern Europe. A session was also offered to Spanish-speaking missionaries.
 "The conference gave people a chance to learn first hand what Buckner is doing in other countries,' said Rachel Garton, director of Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry to give shoes to needy children around the world. "It gave people the information they need to decide where they would like to serve.'
The night before, Buckner celebrated top contributors at its annual Founder's Day banquet in Dallas. Recipients of the awards included ConocoPhillips for 'Dedicated Service,' First Baptist Church, Knoxville, Tennessee for 'Dedicated Church Service,' and Dennis and Ramonda Bingham as 'Philanthropists of the Year.'
"What I really want everyone who attended the weekend events to come away with was the word 'moving,' because there are millions of people in need of what we have to offer today,' Hall said. "More than 143 million orphans need us to get missional right now.'
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