O’FALLON – In July, First Baptist Church O’Fallon (FBCO) heads to Hamilton, Ohio, to work with Inspiring Hope Church (IHC) under a new short-term missions program that establishes expectations for both churches as well as FBCO’s future partnerships. “The FBCO Missions Team wanted to put a strategy in place that would help guide the team through partnerships,” says chairman Jerry Woodruff. “In the past, we struggled with allotment of resources. With the new strategy, our partners know up … [Read more...]
IMB missionary Jim Flora dies at age 63
MT. VERNON (IMB) – Jim Flora, an IMB missionary from Missouri who served faithfully among the Basotho people of Lesotho in Sub-Saharan Africa, died from cancer Friday, May 8, 2021. He was 63. “From the pulpits of Missouri to the mountains of Lesotho, Jim was passionate about sharing the gospel and loved to preach the good news of Jesus Christ,” Paul Chitwood, IMB president, said. “While he will be missed around the world, we know that many will stand before the throne of the Lamb one day … [Read more...]
Why are new mission hymns so few?
Quick, name a recent song celebrating missions. Not so easy, is it? I was posed with the question a few months ago, “Why are there no new hymns on missions?” This is an interesting question, and the answer can truly only be speculative. However, to assert opinion, it behooves us to gather as much empirical data as possible. First, there has been a substantial drop in missions hymns in our denominational hymnal. The 1940 Broadman Hymnal had 23 hymns listed as “Missionary Hymns.” The 1974 … [Read more...]
Women strengthen one another in missionary partnership
SOUTH ASIA – Missionary Liz Karwood* reports that in the area of South Asia where she serves, the lostness can feel staggering. She understands that her team can’t even begin to reach the 25 million Muslims in her region without involving other believers. She also understands that “God is working and is bigger than the task in front of us.” Faced with multitudes of people who do not know Jesus, her team has intentionally focused on evangelism training and building partnerships with South … [Read more...]
One family, three generations, 100 years of missions in Brazil
BRAZIL (IMB) – Is passion genetic? Can one love burn for three generations? Do children pick up Great Commission tendencies from parents, along with mannerisms or voice inflection? The Lord calls whom He will. Ears well-tuned to God’s call run in the Cowsert family. For 100 consecutive years, three generations of Cowserts have served as Southern Baptist missionaries to Brazil. Each has “served God’s purpose in his [or her] own generation” (Acts 13:36). J.J. and Grace In 1921, Jack … [Read more...]
Star Hope Baptist Church continues longtime focus on missions
ELSBERRY – Long before Star Hope Baptist called a career missionary as their pastor, missions was an important part of their ministry. Roger Briggs and wife Jeanette served as missionaries in Belgium for nine years, and then seven years after the Western and Eastern parts of Europe were divided by the International Mission Board, he was Associate Director of Europe and Eastern Europe under Dr. John Floyd. Seven years ago, he was called as Star Hope pastor. “Sixty is a big attendance for … [Read more...]
Ministry restores 20,000 lost photos in decade after devastating tornado
CARTHAGE – After an EF5 tornado carved a mile-wide path of destruction through the city of Joplin on May 22, 2011, Thad Beeler surveyed the damage in his parents’ home. The tornado uprooted three large trees, throwing them on top of the house. It flipped his parents’ car and wrapped it around a neighbor’s tree. It ripped a six-foot-wide patio door out of the side of the house and drove a block of wood through three walls and a toaster oven. But Beeler thought it odd that family photos and … [Read more...]
St. Charles missions director honored with SSM ‘Health Care Hero’ award
ST. CHARLES – It is unusual for an organization to recognize an individual leading a ministry, but that is what happened when SSM Health recognized Stan Norton, Missions Director, and the First Baptist Church of St. Charles for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The award listed Norton as the Health Care Hero. “We have a wonderfully generous church,” Norton said. “A couple of our members work for SSM Health and told us of the conditions that healthcare workers endured during the … [Read more...]
‘Largest callout in MBC history’: DR volunteers reflect on relief efforts following Joplin tornado
JOPLIN – The community of Joplin is remembering the EF-5 tornado that struck their city ten years ago on May 22, 2011. Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) volunteers also shared their reflections with The Pathway in a series of recent interviews. Many said it was probably the largest DR mobilization in MBC history. The massive tornado touched down in the southwest Missouri city on a Sunday evening. It roared through a 13 mile path and left total destruction about a mile wide (in some … [Read more...]
IMB trustees appoint 68 missionaries, announce new affinity
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Trustees of the International Mission Board (IMB) approved 68 new fully funded missionaries for appointment during their May 11-12 meeting in Richmond, Va. This is the first in-person meeting trustees have had since Jan. 2020, before restrictions from COVID-19 necessitated virtual meetings. Missionaries approved for appointment will be recognized during a Sending Celebration held June 14 in conjunction with the Send Conference in Nashville before the 2021 SBC Annual … [Read more...]
MBC, NAMB agree to SEND strategy
JEFFERSON CITY – MBC Executive Director John Yeats signed an agreement with the North American Mission Board (NAMB), May 21, that clarifies church-planting lanes of responsibility for both organizations – and, in effect, makes Missouri what NAMB describes as a Send Network state (SN Missouri). SN Missouri is a strategy where NAMB deploys church planters. NAMB also provides assessment, training, and funding to plant new churches across the state. This enables NAMB to do what it does best, … [Read more...]
FIRST PERSON: Darkness is powerful reminder to missionary
CENTRAL ASIA – Last night at sunset the electricity in our neighborhood flickered off. I stalled my dinner prep in hopes that the lights would return quickly, but in the end we enjoyed a candlelit meal and reminisced about our early days on the mission field, when the electricity didn’t go out for hours at a time, but more like days and weeks. In the late 1990s the newly independent Soviet Central Asian countries were still learning how to work together to share resources—kind of like … [Read more...]
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