Thomas Howard, age 11, from Casey was a competitor in the Royal Ambassadors (RA) Pinewood Derby race at the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, an annual race of hand crafted model cars sponsored by the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). At the SBC exhibit hall kids, SBC entity heads, and state WMU directors all battled it out for the top spot in their corresponding categories.
Among 11 participants in the RA National Championship, Howard is the son of Pastor Brent and Holly Howard. The Howards have only been in Illinois since November when the elder Howard was called as pastor of First Baptist Church of Casey. In their previous home, Texas, Thomas and his older brother Danny competed in RA pinewood derby races.
While the fourth grader didn’t win this year, his father said, “He had a good time with it. The excitement of it all is pretty cool. It’s fun just to watch it and put it [the car] on the track.”
Brent enjoyed the races too. “It was fun to see some of the leaders in the convention remember back to when they were kids,” he said.
Louisiana sixth grader Callen Breaux won the RA National Championship. Christine Gill of Louisiana Baptist Convention won in her category. Guidestone President Hance Dilbeck took his category for the second year in a row.
The Order of Royal Ambassadors was founded in 1908 in Hot Springs, Ark., at the WMU’s 20th Annual Meeting to save boys and to provide missions discipleship.