By Tobin Perry PULLMAN, Wash.—When most of your members learned to drive during the Obama administration, a large portion of tithes come from part-time earners and your church turns over most of its membership every four to five years, you have a unique set of ministry challenges. And it’s easy to think you’re struggling through these issues by yourself. That’s what it’s like to lead a collegiate church plant. “Sometimes you just feel alone—like ‘are we the only ones doing collegiate … [Read more...]
How NAMB is assisting Southern Baptists churches in evangelism
By H. Al Gilbert ALPHARETTA, Ga. - God works through His people, the Church. The Bible makes it very clear. The local church is central in God's plan to move the gospel throughout the world. That's why the evangelism teams at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) are geared to encourage and extend the ministries of the local church. We believe in the continuum of church-every evangelism effort should be rooted in and flow back into the local church. NAMB's role becomes clear in the … [Read more...]
NAMB announces 2015 Send Conference date, location
By Adam Miller ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is developing plans for its 2015 Send North America Conference slated for Aug. 3-4 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. This will be the third time NAMB has hosted the conference to encourage, equip and mobilize lay leaders in local congregations to penetrate lostness in North America. Almost 2,000 people attended the Send North America Conference at First Baptist Church Woodstock, Ga., in 2012. The … [Read more...]
On Mission magazine debuts redesign
Joe Conway/North American Mission Board ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – The North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) flagship publication, On Mission, has undergone a redesign, and something of a re-launch, with the New Year. “Beginning with the current issue, we have begun to organize the magazine around the themes of gospel, mission and ministry,” said Aaron Coe, NAMB vice president for mobilization and marketing and editor in chief of On Mission. “This makes the magazine a tool for use in our … [Read more...]
Ezell: We must redefine success for churches
Mike Ebert/NAMB INDIANAPOLIS – Kevin Ezell told trustees of the North American Mission Board that he is determined to help pastors and laypeople redefine what success looks like for their churches. “Success cannot be defined based on how many people a church keeps,” Ezell told trustees gathered for their Feb. 5 meeting. “We must help them redefine success based on how many a church sends. Churches are designed to be sending agencies.” As Ezell addressed the entity’s leaders, winds … [Read more...]
TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board KANSAS CITY – Church planter Luis Mendoza didn’t know he was a church planter when he started doing it more than 20 years ago. A new believer, in the late 1980s, Mendoza thought building relationships with non-Christians, sharing Christ and starting up new Bible studies was just what Christians did. “I became a believer in 1989 when I came here to this country,” said Mendoza, a North American Mission Board (NAMB) church planter now in Kansas … [Read more...]
Elliff: Southern Baptists taking gospel to the world
Laura Fielding/International Mission Board CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) – In a “Thanksgiving report” to International Mission Board (IMB) trustees during their Nov. 7-8 meeting in Charlotte, N.C. , IMB President Tom Elliff expressed gratitude to God for Southern Baptists’ support of IMB through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Elliff also expressed thanksgiving for the untiring work and interest of IMB trustees, the dedication of IMB personnel in the U.S. and … [Read more...]
Missionaries say God reoriented their lives
Marie Curtis/International Mission Board RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – John* had his comfortable American life all arranged. Moving up the corporate ladder, he was successful in a plywood company and looked forward to his next opportunity. “I planned on being somebody,” John said. “Money and recognition were my main motives for getting up every day.” But when he spoke to a missionary appointment service Nov. 10, he had a different story to tell. “I was planning on making a name for … [Read more...]
Baptist tornado relief continues in Midwest
By Tobin Perry KOKOMO, Ind. – For many exhausted homeowners in Kokomo, Ind., working around the clock to clean up their homes, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) has been a welcome reprieve. SBDR volunteer Karol Jones, a member of Ladoga Baptist Church in Jamestown, Ind., says over and over this week she has talked to worn-out homeowners who can’t believe Southern Baptists would help them—even in the midst of freezing rain—with cleanup, yet not ask anything in return. One … [Read more...]
Church-Planting Missionaries Receive Generous Gift from Southern Baptist Convention
BELLINGHAM, Wash., Nov. 19, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- This week the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board (NAMB) presented a valuable sermon-preparation and presentation gift to each member of its church-planting network. Church-planting missionaries who are a part of the NAMB Send Network each received a Logos Bible Software Silver base package, including nearly 700 resources worth more than $13,000 in print. The gift also includes a six-month license to Logos' … [Read more...]
NAMB trustees approve church planter retirement funds
TORONTO – For the second year in a row trustees for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) have approved a one-time contribution of $1,000 to the retirement accounts of 1,500 church planters in NAMB’s Send Network. The money is coming from underspends in NAMB’s 2012-2013 fiscal year budget. “Our church planters are serving in difficult places and in most cases very expensive places,” said NAMB president Kevin Ezell. “Planning for the future isn’t always the first thing on their minds. … [Read more...]
NAMB online map connects mission needs with volunteers
By Sara Shelton of the North American Mission Board ALPHARETTA, Ga. – When the Baptist Convention of New England (BCNE) came into possession of an old church building in Worcester, Mass., earlier this year, the staff knew exactly what they wanted to do with it. “We were fortunate enough to have the building donated to us, and now we hope to turn it into a church planting center for training planters in the New England area,” explains Tim Buehner, evangelism consultant and mission … [Read more...]