Representatives from 21 states came together for an intensive training on cross-cultural missions taught by International Mission Board missionaries April 2-5. The annual Missions College hosted near Richmond brought IMB missionaries from all over the world together with pastors, church members and missions leaders. The goal of the conference is to give Southern Baptists access […]
Some days, June Estes* pinches herself to make sure she isn’t dreaming. As an International Mission Board missionary explorer, she experiences a lot of things she never imagined doing in her lifetime. Like standing under a string of prayer flags flapping in the wind along a remote hiking path. Or zooming around a noisy city […]
It was just a normal meeting of some Zambian pastors and a few workers from Christian organizations. When Randy Windham stood up and handed a sign-up sheet to the person next to him, they had no idea that ministry as they knew it was about to change. “I’ve been to a training on how to […]
Prison ministry. Sports ministry. Developing national missionaries. The dreams discussed around the table were big. International Mission Board missionaries Matt and Gretchen Clay saw the passion rising as the group of pastors and lay ministers figured out ways to introduce their North African neighbors to the gospel. But the Clays didn’t have the resources to […]
The 2023 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering received a big boost in November toward meeting a hefty goal of $200 million for international missions. Paul Chitwood, IMB president, received a check for $4.84 million from the Joy Ledbetter Trust. It was the second-largest individual gift in the history of the International Mission Board. “Joy Ledbetter was […]
Michaela Knippers grabs the bulky virtual reality goggles off the desk and tightens them onto her head. Her husband, Justin, is already strapped in and waving his hand in the air to scroll through different maps he sees through the goggles. As new International Mission Board missionaries to Osaka, Japan, they’ve been studying Japanese all […]
Lonely. Desperate. Drunk. Anxiety-ridden. It was a life Michaela knew all too well. Growing up, she watched family members travel the exact road she was on. She wanted an escape. So the young woman turned on the computer and transported herself from an empty Tulsa, Okla., apartment to a techno-colored virtual world. In this video […]
Sticky notes plastered to the wall represented all the ways summer volunteers are embarking on the missionary task. The handwritten notes ranged from hiking to remote villages that have never heard Jesus’ name to teaching English using Bible stories at public schools. Janna Smith, International Mission Board missionary serving in the Americas, pointed around the […]
Riding home on the subway, Patrick Stein casually looked around at fellow passengers. Two things stood out: (1) As a 50-something, he was probably one of the oldest commuters. The median age in this North African city was 26. (2) Everyone had earbuds and stared at their phones, each person in their own private world. […]
The 80-year-old man crawls halfway into the green trash bin, feet barely touching the ground. He rummages through discarded bags. Not hearing the familiar jingle of tin and aluminum cans, Dave Joslin pulls his head out and motions for his dog to move on. “I never intended to be a bag lady,” the retired postal […]