BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Two men baptized in Missouri churches were among 26 new missionaries appointed by the International Mission Board during a sending celebration at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, June 12.
Lev Fields*, along with his wife Elsie* and their daughter, will be serving in Northern Africa and the Middle East with the IMB. Although they were sent by a church in North Carolina, Lev was baptized in Missouri. He and Elsie shared with Southern Baptist messengers about how God led them to the mission field.
“My uncle, a missionary and evangelist, told me he was praying that I would become a missionary,” Lev said. “Several years later, God called me to serve for two years as a Journeyman.”
“As a teenager,” Elsie said, “I knew God had called me to go and take the gospel to those in darkness. I also served for two years as a Journeyman.”
Patrick Bowman*, along with his wife Emily* and their three children, will also be serving in Northern Africa and the Middle East. They were being sent by a church in Arkansas. Patrick, who was baptized in Missouri, told Southern Baptist messengers, “We see God at work in how he has orchestrated our going to the nations. Living in two different states, God called both of us to missions while in middle school.”
“For the last eight years,” Emily added, “we’ve both had the privilege of sharing the gospel with Muslims living here in the United States and on a mission trip to the Middle East.”
(* denotes name changed for security.)