It all started with a coffee run. On a trip to the closest city to the Village of Three Temples, International Mission Board missionaries Jason and Robin Ebeyer were praying to find a “person of peace”– someone who would welcome them and help in their ministry efforts. The Ebeyers have been working for the last few years with the people in Isan, a region in Thailand where the Village of Three Temples is found. In this village, there is no Christian presence of any kind, and they … [Read more...]
Robayna named IMB’s Hispanic church mobilization strategist
RICHMOND, Va. (IMB) – The International Mission Board announces Annel Robayna as the new Hispanic church mobilization strategist, serving with the mobilization department. In his role, Robayna will work with 3,390 Hispanic congregations across the Southern Baptist Convention to mobilize pastors and church members to reach the nations with the gospel. “Annel Robayna serves IMB's Revelation 7:9 vision by focusing on our mission to serve Southern Baptists,” D. Ray Davis, manager of the … [Read more...]
‘We have the solution,’ IMB appointees, Georgia Baptists reminded
AUGUSTA, Ga. – As Leslie Montgomery finished college, her dad asked if she was ready to go to Africa as a missionary. He had heard her speak of that desire often growing up. Her reply was one of frustration. “No, I was ready for that nine years ago. Not anymore,” she said. She’d felt the call of God to missions at 12 years old. Yet, it seemed God wasn’t opening those doors for her life. In her view, there were too many “messy years in the middle,” she says. She had given up on her dreams … [Read more...]
At Sending Celebration, IMB appointees reminded to abide in Christ
BEAVERDAM, Va. – After a mission trip to Honduras, Shelton Johnson sensed God calling him overseas. “The Lord just opened my eyes to the need to go,” he said. But, he had a wife and two kids. He wanted to be sure his family was sensing the call as well. Listening to the Lord’s leading in his family’s life, he waited for Him to call each member of his family, individually. It started with his 11-year-old daughter, Addyson. She came downstairs one morning after reading Genesis. She said, … [Read more...]
IMB missionary pipeline surpasses 1,100
The pipeline’s growing, but so is the need Four years ago, 300 candidates waited in IMB’s missionary pipeline, considering a call to the nations. That pipeline just surpassed the 1,100 mark, the highest in decades. This means that more than 1,100 individuals have started a process to help solve the world’s greatest problem – lostness – by becoming a missionary with the IMB. When IMB President Paul Chitwood came into his role four years ago, he knew something needed to change. Due to … [Read more...]
Teaching kids hygiene, worth opens doors for gospel in Southeast Asia
SOUTHEAST ASIA (IMB) – Part of International Mission Board missionary and nurse practitioner Rachel’s ministry in a rural area of Southeast Asia is educating elementary school girls on their health. These girls are often forced by their families to drop out of school by the sixth grade in order to help provide income. She and her IMB colleague Anna, missionary and public health specialist, know they only get to interact with these girls for a short time before they enter the workforce at … [Read more...]
Hispanic women embark on mission trip to Peru
PERU (IMB) – A mission trip for a team of women was an all-hands-on deck, transformational experience. Six women from Iglesia Bautista Nueve Jerusalem in Little Rock, Arkansas and the Arkansas Hispanic Woman’s Missionary Union, traveled to Peru to aid in the ministry of Iglesia Bautista Gracia y Verdad, alongside International Mission Board missionary Amy Fisher. Diana Rodriguez, the Arkansas Hispanic WMU president, led the trip. She was accompanied by her daughter, Natalie (14); sisters … [Read more...]
God’s presence, provision emphasized at MedAdvance 2022
GLEN ALLEN, Va. (IMB) – Nick is a pediatric nurse practitioner. He also serves as a missionary, formerly in Ukraine. Before the war broke out, he used his gifts, talents and passion for medicine in underserved areas affected by the smaller ongoing conflict. In addition to helping with church-planting efforts, he partnered with established churches to offer clinics for the community. Now, living outside Ukraine, he partners with Baptist unions in bordering countries, to deliver food, … [Read more...]
Gospel changes life of 108-year-old woman in South Asia
EDITOR'S NOTE: Read about how these SD cards are pushing back the darkness among an unreached people group in South Asia. SOUTH ASIA – At 108 years old, Auntie’s vision has essentially failed her. But what hasn’t failed is her new-found love for the gospel. A local believer shared the gospel in her home, using the Ek Rasta SD cards. The name Ek Rasta is translated in English as “The Way” and is based on Acts 24:14. These cards, compiled by International Mission Board teams in a remote … [Read more...]
New missionaries remind Southern Baptists ‘why we exist’ during Sending Celebration
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Jonathan Derbyshire grew up as a missionary kid in Thailand. But he never thought the missionary life was for him. His parents have been missionaries for three decades, and they’re still on the field. Even though he saw their calling modeled well, he had other plans for his life. While studying the film industry in college, he heard a sermon from Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Akin said, “Don’t ask, ‘God should I go?’ but instead … [Read more...]
Access to God’s Word proves life changing among UPG
NORTH AFRICA – IMB missionaries Andy and Marie Hoffman served more than 11 years without seeing any fruit among their unreached people group (UPG) in North Africa. During those years, the family and their partners built relationships and shared the gospel with these nomadic farmers and desert horsemen. It wasn’t until the culmination of their hard work was almost complete that they saw nationals come to saving faith. Andy, with the help of national believers, finished a translation of … [Read more...]
SEND Relief offers coaching to engage Afghan refugees
AFGHANISTAN – In response to the number of resettled Afghan refugees in communities in the United States, Send Relief, the combined compassion ministry of the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board, is facilitating coaching to help churches engage their new Afghan neighbors. This coaching is a limited-time project and will only be offered for another five months. The United States has evacuated thousands upon thousands of Afghans to the U.S. The majority have … [Read more...]