SPRINGFIELD – Second Baptist Church here will welcome more than 75 new Southern Baptist missionaries Nov. 15 as the congregation hosts the final missionary appointment service of 2012 and the first in Missouri since 2006 for the International Mission Board (IMB).
The event will start at 7 p.m. Attendees will hear stories of calling from the new missionaries, special music and a challenge from IMB President Tom Elliff, who will deliver the appointment service’s address.
“It’s always exciting to welcome new men and women who are passionate about fulfilling the Great Commission,” Elliff said. “And IMB is grateful for churches like Second Baptist who demonstrate their passion for missions by being such generous hosts.”
The new missionaries will join with the nearly 5,000 Southern Baptist missionaries currently serving around the world. Many are heading to some of the least-reached corners of the globe, including regions like North Africa and the Middle East, as well as Central and East Asia.
IMB’s last missionary appointment service in Missouri was held in 2006 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Sixty-seven new missionaries were honored at that service. Before that a service was held in 2002 at First Baptist Church, Raytown.
“Missouri Baptists believe in cooperative missions, and a commissioning service is part of what Missouri Southern Baptists do together to send people into the darkness to shine the light of the gospel,” said Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Director John Yeats, who also serves as recording secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“The IMB Commissioning Service is the special event that speaks straight to the heart of a follower of Christ. You take away from a service like this a sense of amazement at what God is doing in and through His people. You thank the Lord for the faithful servants He has called on mission. I’m confident that people will want to car pool, secure the church van or drive individually to be part of this incredible evening.”