“While the dollar figure is large, the decision was one of the easiest we have ever made,” Tony Wolfe, SCBaptist executive director-treasurer, said. Wolfe addressed the IMB‘s board of trustees on May 14, presenting them with the $1 million check.
Every year, missionaries pass through the ILC to prepare for the work ahead and return between assignments, sometimes staying for up to seven weeks at a time. The dormitories were constructed in the 1980s and remain largely unchanged since their construction.
By supplying this grant, the generosity of SCBaptists will allow for the renovation of an entire dormitory, providing care, dignity, and a space for preparation for Southern Baptist missionaries for years to come.
A Legacy Investment in Missionary Care
“We have full confidence in the IMB’s vision, leadership, and missional strategies,” Wolfe said. “We are honored to invest in future Southern Baptist missionaries and their families in this way.” The renovations are expected to provide another 20 to 30 years of usefulness to Southern Baptist missionaries.
The funds come from the 10×10 Plan for Strategic Priorities Fund, a 10-year funding strategy launched in 2023 to further advance the Great Commission in seven strategic ways, including missions partnerships and mobilization.
“By making this investment, we’re not simply funding a facility. We’re strengthening the mission and reinforcing our shared commitment to cooperation in sending missionaries to the ends of the earth,” Mike McCormick, chair of SCBaptist’s Budget, Finance and Audit Committee, said.
SCBaptists Sending and Developing Missionaries
“South Carolina is a sending state,” Wolfe said. “We are overjoyed and humbled to send the brightest and best of SCBaptists into the mission field through the IMB.” As of March 2026, there were 298 SCSent Ones actively serving with the IMB.
Family and friends pray over SCSent Ones Kris and Aubree Kuriger during a commissioning ceremony at First Baptist Church, Charleston. The Kurigers now serve in Northern England. (IMB photo)
SCBaptists continue to invest in the next generation of missionaries, as well. Currently, 50 students are being developed through Palmetto Collective, a program that equips and trains missionally-minded college juniors and seniors. In addition, 59 Palmetto Collective graduates are deployed in full-time mission or ministry roles, and 182 Baptist Collegiate Ministry students were mobilized on mission.
Wolfe prayed for future generations of IMB missionaries to see “unparalleled success in Great Commission work,” and for the Lord to “open doors for them to the gospel in the hardest places on earth.” He closed by reminding missionaries that “an army of South Carolina Baptists will hold the rope for them, always.”
— Anna Gardner serves as the Creative Editor for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.