RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Desiring to help its team members maintain access to unreached peoples and places and remain healthy as they seek to take the gospel to all nations, the International Mission Board announced a policy Sept. 8 for field personnel and staff members related to COVID-19 vaccinations. This policy addresses the challenges of overseas life and travel requirements for IMB missionary personnel and IMB staff members who travel overseas. The IMB policy requires IMB missionaries … [Read more...]
How can Southern Baptists respond to crises in Afghanistan, Haiti?
Prayer, giving most needed response to Afghanistan crisis By IMB Staff The Taliban have seized power in Afghanistan, storming across the nation and capturing all major cities within a matter of days. This political takeover occurred just weeks before the U.S. was set to complete its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. In the current crisis, an exodus is building as people by the thousands try to evacuate the country. Tens of thousands of Afghans who may be vulnerable to Taliban … [Read more...]
Missouri DR supports relief efforts in Haiti
LES CAYES, Haiti – Missouri Baptists are responding after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,000 people in Haiti, Aug. 14, leaving roughly 30,000 families homeless. Tropical Storm Grace hit the nation only two days after the earthquake, making it difficult for supplies and support to reach survivors and intensifying needs in the region. Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) is sending funds to support a Haitian medical team organized by Alpha Omega Ministry (ALOM), a ministry … [Read more...]
Afghanistan: ‘from Saigon, to Dunkirk, to Schindler’s List’
Kansas City-based ministry labors to rescue Gospel workers amid deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan – The condition in Afghanistan has deteriorated from a “Saigon, to a Dunkirk, to a Schindler’s List” situation, according to a representative from Concilium, Inc., a global security ministry laboring to help Gospel workers flee the nation. His statement refers, first, to the disastrous military retreat from Saigon in 1975, then to the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation of … [Read more...]
‘God is sending them to us’: Mo. Baptists prepare to help Afghan refugees in St. Louis
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated on Aug. 25, to include further information about ministry opportunities provided through the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association. See http://www.stlbaptist.com/good-neighbor-initiative.) ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptists stand ready to help Afghan men, women and children taking refuge in St. Louis in the wake of the United States military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Omar Segovia, ethnic church planting strategist for the Missouri Baptist Convention, … [Read more...]
Middle Eastern men yield to Christ, an answer to years of prayer
For just a moment, put yourself in the place of IMB missionary Andrew Lee*. Imagine you are on a video call with three men from the Middle East. You lean in toward the grainy screen to hear their collective stories of how they fled their war-torn country and finally made it to Europe in search of a better life. They each tell you of their friendship with a believer named Abraham* who had also been a refugee out of the same area in the Middle East many years before. Abraham had a deep … [Read more...]
Missionaries continue carrying torch in Tokyo
TOKYO – A Buddhist priest learned about Jesus through Japanese comics. A worker from the Olympic village heard what is worth more than gold. A Christian woman struggling to find a church learned about ones she can attend. An athletic trainer ran to tell his friend how he could be rid of sin. A 93-year-old woman welcomed prayer from missionaries and Japanese Christians. As athletes soared over high-jump bars, balanced on beams, freestyled to gold medals and climbed to new heights, … [Read more...]
Young adult becomes first known believer in Southeast Asian unreached people group
SOUTHEAST ASIA (IMB) – When an individual from an unengaged, unreached people group comes to faith, many rejoice: the missionaries who’ve dedicated their lives to reaching the people group, the believers and churches in the United States who’ve spent time praying for and investing resources in the people, the national believers and churches who have been instrumental in gaining access to and reaching the people, and even the angels in heaven (Luke 15:10). But, for the new believer – … [Read more...]
Missions education pays off for fifth and sixth graders with IMB tour
RICHMOND, Va. – Staff of the International Mission Board showed their enthusiasm while hosting a group of fifth and sixth graders from Southern Hills Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The children visited the IMB headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, as a reward for completing eight mission projects during the 2020-2021 school year. The eight projects included interviewing a missionary, writing a report on a country, writing a book report on a missionary biography and learning key … [Read more...]
New strategies emerge as Japanese churches face future without pastors
Japan’s population is aging. Almost 30% of its population is 65 years old and older. This statistic is affecting church planting, church health and church growth. International Mission Board missionaries and Japanese Christians must answer the question, “Who will lead the next generation of believers?” Scott Bradford, a missionary in Tokyo, said the average age of local pastors is between 60 and 70 years old. Many pastors are in their 80s and don’t feel they can retire because there is … [Read more...]
Persecution persists as gospel spreads
Kingdom growth is always met with deep spiritual warfare for Aquila*. For him this includes active and imminent threats to his life. “Please pray for us!” Aquila asked the prayer team in a September 2020 message. He had heard that an extremist group was coming to the area where he lived. Because of his gospel witness, Aquila found himself on this group’s “top 10” hit list. He was fearful for his life and his family. He’s been on this list for seven years, yet his gospel witness hasn’t … [Read more...]
Japanese hunger for hope on the horizon
TOKYO, Japan (IMB) – More people died by suicide in Japan in October of 2020 than died from COVID-19 in the previous months of 2020. In 2020, Japan reported 16.7 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Concrete walls enclose home-like prisons where Japanese men and women suffer in silence. Already small apartments became prison cells because of COVID’s sentence of solitary confinement, with the hope of parole like an ever-setting sun on the horizon. Pandemics have no due process and exacerbate … [Read more...]
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