MOLDOVA – Missouri Baptist church members couldn’t imagine what blessings “loomed ahead” for them when they recently went on mission to the east European nation of Moldova. “Most people you ask will not even know there is a country called Moldova, and for sure where it is,” Keith Vawter, director of missions for the Wright-Douglas-Ozark Baptist Association and Denty County Association, wrote in a report about the mission trip. “Moldova is surrounded on three sides by Ukraine and on the … [Read more...]
‘God has put us in this place,’ says missionary couple
by Kristen Sosebee/IMB SOUTH AMERICA (IMB) – When Jeffrey and Theresa Stafford got engaged, he drew two large circles on a map of the Amazon and mailed it to her with a note. God willing, he wrote, our family will one day live and work in one of these places. Today the Staffords, along with their four children, serve as International Mission Board missionaries deep within the Amazon rainforest. The small community where they live is the end of the road – the very last town before the … [Read more...]
Family project becomes opportunity for discipleship, missions impact
NORBORNE – One Missouri Baptist family recently combined a family fundraising project with local evangelism, all for the sake of building up the church in Nicaragua and helping to make disciples there. Zachary Hawkins, pastor of Union Baptist Church in Norborne, Mo, raised money for a mission project with his son, Zyler (9), and wife, Lila, at JC Penney Days in Hamilton, Mo. “JC Penney Days is an opportunity for vendors, artists and craftsmen to set up booths,” Hawkins said. “We wanted to … [Read more...]
Women witness God’s purposes, plans on mission trip to Peru
“Tatiana,” she quickly typed into her phone notes. “Alicia,” she added. “That’s someone else I need to remember to pray for.” For Melissa Hanberry of Mississippi, this small church in Lima situated across the street from the national cancer hospital was exactly where she needed to be. Families come from all over Peru to seek treatment. Iglesia Bautista Victoria Total (translated Total Victory Baptist Church) rents space on the second floor of a nearby building. From this small worship … [Read more...]
Nov. 2 Day of Prayer for Persecuted Church uplifts endangered Christians globally
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Southern Baptists have joined the global community, Nov. 2, in uplifting the estimated 380 million Christians who endure danger because of their faith. Recognized globally as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on the Southern Baptist Convention calendar aligns Southern Baptists in a worldwide prayer call on behalf of Christians who suffer evils including criminalization of worship and evangelism, as … [Read more...]
Rolla BSU students go on mission in Poland
ROLLA – Poland isn’t the first place that comes to mind when Westerners think about international mission trip destinations. Mission trip efforts often focus on third world countries or nations untouched by the Christian religion, and Poland is neither of these. More than 90 percent of Poland is at least culturally Catholic, and it’s a first-world country. A common saying in Poland is, “To be Polish is to be Catholic.” And yet, having exposure to the Bible or teachings about Jesus is not … [Read more...]
Retired but not finished: How one man’s online ministry is reaching Japan
by Steve Hamilton and Gayle Lewis Sota spent his career in information technology, but retiring from secular work didn’t mean stepping away from serving the Lord. A Japanese man living in the United States, Sota asked a simple-but-powerful question: “Is there anything more I can do than pray?” God answered with an unexpected invitation — an opportunity to serve as a digital engagement (DE) responder for a city in Japan. Though thousands of miles from his homeland, Sota felt a deep … [Read more...]
Nik and Ruth Ripken encourage believers to follow Jesus, no matter the cost
by Leann Callaway LOUISVILLE , Ky. (BP) – As retired International Mission Board missionaries Nik and Ruth Ripken speak in a variety of small group settings, churches and conferences, they desire to share practical insights with prospective missionaries about what to expect mentally, physically and spiritually. They especially want to prepare people for those areas where believers face extreme persecution and suffering. That’s a story they know all too well. Originally from … [Read more...]
A Shina man’s search for truth leads to Christ
by Josie Gabdon/IMB PAKISTAN (IMB) – Many years ago, a believer gave Barkhat’s father a Bible. “I have wanted to understand the Bible since I was a child,” Barkhat told two believers who came to his home to share the gospel. Over the next few days, they read the Bible together two or three times a day, and Barkhat soaked in the Word. For two nights, Barkhat couldn’t sleep. He was a Shina man, and like most other Shina in Pakistan, he had followed Islam. But he had become … [Read more...]
IMB mobilizes Christians from the nations to reach the nations
by Kristen Sosebee/IMB “The Great Commission is not just about the IMB,” said Eric Kuykendall, who leads an International Mission Board team in Paris working among Chinese people. So, when leaders from two local Chinese churches in Paris approached Kuykendall last October about how to get involved in international missions, his wheels started turning. As he prayed for direction, an opportunity for them to do cross-cultural work in French began to take shape. Less than a year later, … [Read more...]
IMB workers teach former German church plant about cross-cultural missions in Greece
ATHENS, Greece (IMB) – Peppy music blared from the neon flashing speaker as members of the local Greek evangelical church walked up the cobblestone road waving. They called to residents sitting on their balconies to meet them at the park in this Athens, Greece, neighborhood. Mixed in with the lively procession were seven volunteers from Germany. They laughed nervously, feeling self-conscious with everyone peering out windows and stopping on the street to watch. They’d never do something … [Read more...]
Collaborations, experience, faith guide overseas journeys of new IMB missionaries
by Chris Doyle/IMB An immigrant couple from a Slavic church in California will continue ministering in Spain, but they will return as International Mission Board missionaries. Another couple is going overseas after a long tenure of serving Southern Baptists through multiple entities. And a young man is returning to do missions in the same country he previously served as a Journeyman. These are a few of the 54 newly appointed missionaries who participated in a Sending Celebration, … [Read more...]
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