Baptist & Reflector

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WHITE STONES AND NEW NAMES

Women in Uganda find escape from brothels and hope for salvation

By Caroline Anderson
IMB writer

IMB missionary Allie White poses for a photo with her national partners. The women minister to women working in brothels in slums in Kampala, Uganda.

UGANDA — Women in the slum brothels of Kampala, Uganda, are learning God has not forgotten them, there is hope and redemption in their life stories, and He has given them a new name.

IMB missionary Allie White remembers riding in motorcycle taxis past slums housing brothels, and she would look down the alleyways and ask, “What is this place?”

Allie told one of her Ugandan national partners, Victoria, that she wanted to go into the area.

“I’m not going down that alley,” Victoria said firmly. However, the Lord turned her heart toward the women as she began praying with Allie and other Ugandan Christians.

“It’s a very high area of prostitution, so we began to ask God to open doors for us down there,” Allie said.  [Read more…]

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CHITWOOD: POLISH BAPTISTS HELPING REFUGEES WITH EVERYTHING THEY HAVE, LITERALLY

By Scott Barkley
Baptist Press

IMB president Dr. Paul Chitwood talks with a Ukranian refugee at the border crossing into Poland about her tragic journey out of her homeland to safety. In February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine causing a massive movement of refugees into bordering nations as well as IDPs within. — Photo by IMB

CHELM, Poland — Bus after bus arrived at the border, filled with women and children, separated from husbands and fathers. Most men stayed behind, now needed in cities and towns throughout the Ukrainian countryside. The grief of those who fled was palpable.

It is one of many scenes International Mission Board president Paul Chitwood can’t forget after a recent three-day trip to eastern Poland, 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. While there he met with various IMB personnel and humanitarian groups and saw Baptists step into a role desperately needed during a historic refugee crisis.

Speaking with Baptist Press March 6, the jet lag and lack of sleep were in Chitwood’s voice.

“Didn’t sleep a wink on the way to London,” he said, referring to an overnight flight that landed Feb. 26. A vision trip connecting churches in the U.S. with IMB personnel and partners in Europe took place over the following days. The original plan was to leave London and go to different locales throughout Europe, including Ukraine. [Read more…]

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BAPTISTS IN POLAND RESPOND TO SUPPORT UKRAINIAN REFUGEES

By Caroline Anderson
IMB writer

Christians in Polish Baptist churches work in shifts so they are ready to receive refugees 24 hours a day. — Photo courtesy of Chelm Baptist Church, Poland. Used by permission.

Polish Baptists and International Mission Board missionaries quickly rallied to respond to the needs of Ukrainian refugees crossing the border to seek sanctuary from the attack on their homeland.

Josh and Bailey Krause serve with the IMB in Warsaw, Poland, and are the liaisons between the IMB, Send Relief and the Polish Baptist Union. After meeting with Send Relief partners, Josh met with the president of the Polish Baptist Union to hear their plans and determine how Send Relief funds can assist Ukrainian refugees.  [Read more…]

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TRUSTEES: IMB CELEBRATES EARLY REPORTS OF RECORD-BREAKING OFFERINGS

By Julie McGowan
IMB

IMB president Paul Chitwood (center) and Chuck A. Pourciau (right), lead pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., and chairman of the IMB board of trustees, laugh during trustee Brian L. Zunigha’s (left) presentation of updates from the training committee. Zunigha is director of discipleship ministries at California Baptist University. — IMB Photo

RICHMOND, Va. — International Mission Board trustees approved the appointment of 52 new full-time, fully funded missionaries, while also honoring the service of 80 emeritus missionaries during their Feb. 2-3 meeting.

Chuck Pourciau, trustee chairman and lead pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., presided over the two-day meeting, which included 53 trustees meeting in person and 17 joining online due to issues such as COVID-19 and inclement winter weather.

The new missionaries were honored during a Sending Celebration Wednesday (Feb. 2) at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Glen Allen, Va., which included a livestream option for families and church partners around the world to join in the event. Jarrett Stephens, senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, brought a message of encouragement to the new appointees. [Read more…]

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WEEK OF PRAYER: PANAMANIAN CHRISTIANS SEE 42 NEW BELIEVERS

By Caroline Anderson
IMB writer

Sean and Shelley Blacksten (middle and second from left), IMB missionaries to Panama, talk to Icilda de Henry (left), president of La Unión Femenil Bautista Misionera Helen Stuart (Panama’s WMU) and group member Lorna Murdok about the impact of the women’s financial giving to the IMB. De Henry and Murdok share with the Blackstens that they are active in many Baptist churches and meet regularly. In 2020 and 2021, their meetings have been virtual due to COVID-19. — IMB Photo

The pandemic provided an opportunity for Panamanian believers to truly love their neighbors and show Christ’s love through their actions.

Tim Louderback, who serves in Panama with the International Mission Board, said Christians picked up medicine and bought groceries for their non-Christian neighbors who were fearful or unable to leave their homes. Their acts of service led to many inroads to share the gospel.

Southern Baptist work in Panama through IMB missionaries Tim and Tina Louderback and Sean and Shelley Blacksten was highlighted during the 2021 Week of Prayer for International Missions. The two couples shared how U.S. churches were partnering in valuable ways on the ground, in addition to their prayer and financial support. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE CHURCH PRESENTS CHITWOOD WITH $100,000 FOR LOTTIE OFFERING

By Timothy Cockes
Baptist Press

IMB president Paul Chitwood (left) receives a check for $100,000 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering from pastor John Mark Harrison.

KNOXVILLE — First Baptist Concord in Knoxville, Tenn., presented International Mission Board president Paul Chitwood with a special check for $100,000 toward the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering during a special service on Jan. 5.

Chitwood accepted the check, which brought First Baptist Concord’s total Lottie Moon giving for 2021 to more than $425,000. Gifts to the Lottie Moon offering go directly to worldwide missions and make up more than half of IMB’s budget.

Senior pastor John Mark Harrison said the church is having a special worship night each Wednesday in January to celebrate the renovation of its worship center, and members wanted to emphasize the important of missions giving during the first service.

“We’re very honored to have Dr. Chitwood,” Harrison said. “He’s been such a great leader for our convention of churches, and so our church family, not just our staff is really excited about having him. Missions is very important to First Baptist Concord and so this was a really exciting evening because of our heart for mission and his effective leadership in sending missionaries to the nations.

“In a very difficult season culturally and in our convention of churches he (Chitwood) has been able to be that steady presence to keep us focused on the mission and keep us focused on getting the Gospel to the ends of the earth. I’m just so thankful for his steady-handed leadership.” [Read more…]

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IMB UPDATES VACCINATION POLICY TO MAXIMIZE ACCESS TO UNREACHED PEOPLES

By Julie McGowan
IMB associate vice president of communications and public relations

RICHMOND, Va.—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 International Mission Board exists to serve Southern Baptists in carrying out the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations — even to those people in the overpopulated urban cities, even to those in the hardest-to-reach jungles and plains,” said IMB President Paul Chitwood. “And the IMB is pressing forward to share the gospel even in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic that is no respecter of geographical boundaries or human demographics.”

“We must make every wise decision, even when a decision is exceptionally difficult, that maintains our team members’ access to the growing number of unreached peoples and places around the world where vaccines are required for entry,” Chitwood said. “We also want to do all we can to undergird our team members’ spiritual and physical health to maximize our effectiveness as we serve Southern Baptists in our global gospel endeavors.” 

A growing number of the countries in which IMB field personnel serve are requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccine to enter, remain in or exit the country. Some field personnel have reported incidents in their countries of service where proof of vaccination must be shown for adults and older children to board a subway, enter a shopping mall, eat in a restaurant, or board an airplane for travel.   [Read more…]

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NASHVILLE NATIVE SERVES REFUGEES, NEAR AND FAR, IN VARIETY OF WAYS

Editor’s note: The name of the Nashville resident who works with Middle Eastern refugees overseas has been changed for her protection. 

IMB news office

The sign in front of Tusculum Hills Baptist Church welcomes attendees.

NASHVILLE — Meeting a refugee at a community center in Nashville helped set the trajectory where Evie Tucker finds herself today, working among Middle Eastern refugees in a community center overseas.  

Nashville, Tucker’s hometown, is home to the largest population of refugees from one Middle Eastern people group. Many of the refugees live in one section of town that has become a refugee resettlement location.  

Tusculum Hills Baptist Church is located in this part of town, and before moving overseas, Tucker taught at an English as a second language center located in the church.  

Tucker, a missionary with the International Mission Board, said there are 91 different people groups in Middle Tennessee and there are between 30 to 40 unreached people groups represented in a one-mile radius of the church. She recalls hearing how Tusculum Hills began praying for the Lord’s direction and how they could be involved in reaching their neighbors. 

The Lord answered by directing them to open their facilities for ESL classes. Tucker’s home church, Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville and Nashville First Baptist Church partner with Tusculum Hills to minister to refugees.  

At the ESL center, Tucker met a woman who shared her story of fleeing her country, living in a refugee camp for five years, losing her husband in the camp and her difficult journey to the U.S.  [Read more…]

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SOUTHERN BAPTISTS APPOINT 64 MISSIONARIES IN SENDING CELEBRATION

By Scott Barkley
Baptist Press

Southern Baptists worship during the IMB’s Sending Celebration for 64 new missionaries June 14. – Photo by Karen McCutcheon

NASHVILLE – International Mission Board president Paul Chitwood made a confession to the thousands gathered in the Music City Center on June 14. As 2020 dragged on, he said, challenge after challenge made the IMB’s goals seem further and further beyond reach.

“I questioned at times if we would be able to do everything that is necessary to appoint, train and deploy new missionaries in the midst of a global pandemic,” he said at the IMB Sending Celebration. “But by God’s grace and with His help, your sending of missionaries through the IMB has not. even. slowed.

“We’ve had plenty of hurdles and more than enough disruptions, but more than 500 new missionaries have been appointed since the pandemic began. … Our work has not been thwarted.”

Sixty-four missionaries were presented in preparation for joining 3,631 appointed by the IMB and sent throughout the world. The vast majority of the new missionaries stood behind a screen, as they could not be identified due to security concerns in their location of service. [Read more…]

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LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING REACHES CUMULATIVE $5 BILLION

By Myriah Snyder
IMB news office

RICHMOND — International Mission Board leaders are celebrating a monumental milestone in Southern Baptist life: On March 31, 2021, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering surpassed $5 billion total gifts since collection to send missionaries to China began in 1888. 

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is an annual offering collected by believers around the world to support international missions. The offering is unique because 100 percent of the gifts are used to provide for missionaries who are spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth. 

“I praise God for this significant milestone in giving through the Lottie offering as it indicates that the love of Southern Baptists for the lost has not waned, nor has their commitment to sending and supporting missionaries through the IMB,” said Paul Chitwood, president of the International Mission Board. 

“It also reveals the incredible success of the WMU in advocating, since 1888, for every nation, tribe, people and language to have the opportunity to hear the gospel — a partnership for which we are so grateful,” he added.  [Read more…]

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