UKRAINE (IMB) – Rest. It’s a four-letter word. There’s no rest in war. There’s no rest amid the missiles and gunfire that have plagued Ukraine for the past year. Yet, when Mike Domke, International Mission Board missionary, looked at a network of 60 Ukrainian pastors and missionaries, he knew that’s exactly what they needed — to rest and rejuvenate by doing nothing. “You want us to come and do nothing?” the weary and beaten ministers asked dumbfounded when Domke invited their families … [Read more...]
Missionary returns to field a third time to finish task
'My heart was still here. I didn’t feel like the job was done.' THAILAND (IMB) – As a 22-year-old Journeyman, Jeri Whitfield saw long-term missionaries commit their lives to God and the people they served. That was her model for missions — a missionary presence that creates gospel access and transforms lives. It’s still her desire today, 40 years later. It’s also why she’s returned to serve in Thailand through the International Mission Board three times. The first time she left, … [Read more...]
IMB tops 1,200 in missionary pipeline
RICHMOND, Va. – At the first of March, the International Mission Board counted more than 1,200 candidates in the missionary application process. This is a significant milestone for Southern Baptists, as the number of missionary candidates in 2019 was 300. "The IMB missionary candidate pipeline has now quadrupled over the past four years. Praise the Lord!” IMB President Paul Chitwood said. “As Southern Baptists’ generosity grows, so does the opportunity to send their fully funded … [Read more...]
‘Tell them the greatest news’: FBC Arnold on mission at home, around the globe
ARNOLD – Adam Cruse, senior associate pastor at First Baptist Church here, says “one of the greatest ways to disciple people is to get them on an airplane.” “We have found that there’s a huge difference in people when they return from being on (a mission trip). Their faith grows by leaps and bounds and it impacts how they live and serve long term.” He says that growth then helps drive Christians “to see people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and see strong, … [Read more...]
IMB trustees appoint 46 new missionaries, celebrate reports of increased engagement
RICHMOND, Va. (IMB) – International Mission Board trustees approved the appointment of 46 new full-time, fully funded missionaries, while also honoring the service of 87 missionaries and staff during their Feb. 1-2 meeting in Richmond, Virginia. Chuck Pourciau, trustee chairman and lead pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, presided over the two-day meeting. The new missionaries were honored during a Sending Celebration on Wednesday, Feb. 1, which included a … [Read more...]
Bryant Wright visits Send Relief ministry sites in Turkey earthquake zone
SOUTHERN TURKEY (BP) – Send Relief President Bryant Wright is on the ground amid the rubble and devastation caused by a major earthquake in Turkey and northern Syria. In a video released Feb. 11, he urged Southern Baptists to give and to pray. More than 35,000 people died in the Feb. 6 quake and its aftershocks. The death toll still could rise as bodies remain buried underneath homes and apartment buildings. Send Relief, a collaboration of the International Mission Board and the North … [Read more...]
Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List shows persecution spiking in Sub-Saharan Africa
ORANGE, Calif. (BP) – Violence against Christians is spiking in Sub-Saharan Africa, driven by violence nurtured in Nigeria by Islamic and Fulani terrorists, Open Doors U.S. said Jan. 17 in its 2023 World Watch List tracking Christian persecution globally. Nearly 90 percent of the 5,621 Christians killed in the study period were in Nigeria, Open Doors U.S. said, verifying 5,014 such killings there. “Open Doors only records the events that we can verify. In reality much persecution, … [Read more...]
Pakistan eyeing more stringent blasphemy law despite growing outrage
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (BP) – Pakistan’s lower house of parliament has passed a bill strengthening punishment for blasphemy despite international outcry and security concerns among Christians and other religious minorities there. Blasphemy already carries punishment as severe as death in the majority-Muslim country, but the Criminal Laws Bill amendment passed Jan. 17 in the National Assembly would increase jail terms from three years to 10 years for insulting the prophet Mohammad’s … [Read more...]
Global inflation doesn’t keep IMB missionaries from being ‘present’
RICHMOND, Va. (IMB) – Otis Newman opened the door and stared at the empty refrigerator. The kids rifled through the cabinets next to him. The family ate everything except dried goods before leaving for vacation. The International Mission Board missionary cringed just thinking about how much it might cost to restock. Inflation has been a global hot topic for months. Experts try to predict how it will affect the economy, but for most people, it doesn’t hit home until they pay for groceries … [Read more...]
Twelve new Zambian churches bring glory to God
ZAMBIA, Africa (IMB) – It was the first service as a church and excitement showed on everyone’s faces. They’d been working up to this moment for months with Bible studies, learning to share the gospel and lessons on being a healthy church. As the opening prayer began, everyone quickly shuffled to their seats — flat rocks excavated from a field and lined up in perfect rows under shade trees. When the praise music started, it would have raised the roof…IF there were one. Finally, the pastor … [Read more...]
FIRST-PERSON: 20 years ago in Yemen, lives given not taken
EDITOR'S NOTE: Leo Endel is the executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. A small group of us met Friday night at Layton Avenue Baptist Church in Milwaukee to remember the life and ministry of Kathy Gariety. Along with two other International Mission Board (IMB) medical workers, William Koehn and Dr. Martha Myers, Kathy was killed 20 years ago when a Yemeni man slipped into the Baptist Hospital in Jibla, Yemen. He said he killed them “because they were preaching … [Read more...]
Missionaries provide a listening ear in Colombia
BOGOTÁ, Colombia – It’s the listening ear. It’s the soap and shampoo, the fuzzy socks, the melody sung by a compassionate Christian. It’s the prayer for God’s protection and healing that means so much to the men, women and children staying in a medical shelter in Bogotá, Colombia. It’s these things and more that International Mission Board missionary April Byron and her national partner, Salomé, provide when they visit the shelter each week. April and her husband, Donnie, minister to … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 17
- Next Page »