Maynard Belt with the Lord

“Maynard was president of the Fellowship of Missions since 2011. Previously he was state representative of the Michigan Association of Regular Baptist Churches from 1990 to 2006—the longest tenure of any MARBC representative” - GARBC

Discussion

Maynard Belt was my pastor for a few years when I was a kid attending First Baptist Church in Durand, MI. I don’t remember much other than that he always seemed warm, kind, and joyful. As a kid, things like that make an impression on you—especially if you attend a Christian school where there is a lot of not-particularly-warm kind or joyful. (The church did not have a school. It was elsewhere.)

Much of your sense of the genuineness of the faith is caught rather than taught. MB’s joy nurtured my young faith in ways he probably never knew. Maybe he knows now!

The greater Flint, MI area had a lot of strong churches in those days. Maybe it still does; I haven’t been there in a lot of years now.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

Was blessed to know Maynard fairly well because he was good friends with my father from their days at Grand Rapids Baptist Bible College (now Cornerstone) and even better friends with my father-in-law as my father—in-law was his associate pastor at Northland Baptist for all of the years he was there. He was a gift and an encouragement to the GARBC pastors of Michigan for so many years as its State Representative and had I really appreciated his heart for the gospel to be preached to the nations of the world. Here is a tribute by his brother-in-law, Johnny Hall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6zoZGI1BBQ