For more than 400 Southern Baptist missionaries and their families at work in a region of the world where the reality of the “lostness” of the people can be overwhelming, a Charleston pastor delivered encouragement and challenge at the annual general meeting for the South Asia region, the focus of a five-year partnership with the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
Buster Brown, left, pastor of East Cooper Baptist Church, and David Garrison, the International Mission Board’s regional leader for South Asia.Buster Brown, pastor at East Cooper Baptist Church for the past 25 years, encouraged the missionaries to cling expectantly to the “hope of the almost, but not yet” and to ward off feelings of despair with what he termed a “relaxed anticipation” of what God is doing – and would do – related to their work and in their own personal lives.
He urged the M’s, as they are often called, to exhibit a kind of patience that produces “joy in the ‘everydayness’ of life” – a joy which he said is “infectious.”
Speaking on behalf of himself and East Cooper Baptist Church – and all South Carolina Baptists, for that matter – Brown told the missionaries, “You have made significant sacrifices, and we admire and love you. We stand by you.”
He praised the missionaries, saying that they would leave an “enduring legacy” for those who followed them to fields of service in South Asia.
“There are no little people and no little places,” he said. “One person can make a huge difference.”
“In Christ Alone is Our Hope” was the theme of the annual general meeting planned with precision for the missionaries who convened “from the four corners of South Asia” for a week of “celebrating what God is doing and a discussion of the difficulties.” In short, it is a time for relaxing and recharging, as the children of the missionaries are cared for and involved in a variety of activities during the day while their parents attend seminars for instruction and worship services for inspiration.
The East Cooper pastor, in his role as Bible study leader, drew from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians for his messages, in which he challenged the missionaries to strike a balance in their lives between “faith in Christ and love for the saints.” In Christ, he emphasized to his audience, they could enjoy a “life of no regrets.”
“Glory in the gospel,” he said, “and find rest in the cross of Jesus Christ.”
Brown called on the missionaries to “struggle” for the souls of the people of South Asia, recognizing what he termed a “rising crescendo of urgency” about the need to reach for Christ a region that some IMB officials refer to as “the ends of the earth.”
The East Cooper pastor challenged the missionaries to “shout down heaven” on behalf of the people who inhabit the region of South Asia where the “lostness” factor is figured at some 1.5 billion people.
Even under the most difficult of circumstances, Christians must “bear fruit,” Brown said, indicating that it is “endemic to who we are” and is “not an option.”
The East Cooper pastor urged the missionaries to “saturate yourselves in the gospel,” understanding the gospel “in all of its truth” and allowing the gospel to “capture your hearts.”
Speaking directly to the missionaries, but to the larger audience of all Christians as well, Brown coupled understanding the gospel with gaining an even greater grasp of grace and its truth. “Be gospel-oriented and grace-saturated,” he declared.
He told the missionaries to be “encouraged in heart and united in love,” adding, “Live for the service of each other and of others. Make Christ central in your lives and never push the cross away from the center of who you are – of who we are as Christians. Be Jesus-centered and cross-filled people.”
One of every four people in the world who are considered lost live in South Asia. There are 873 people per square mile. And there is only one missionary unit for every 9 million lost persons in that region, which contains 20,000 recognized churches, as defined by the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message Statement.
South Carolina’s partnership with South Asia – which includes India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives – is scheduled to end in 2009. The vision of the International Mission Board for the region is that “the glory of God covers South Asia as waters cover the sea.”