Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

IMB POSTPONES VOLUNTEER TRIPS THROUGH JUNE 30, PERSONNEL ‘SHELTER IN PLACE’

By Julie McGowan
AVP of communication, marketing and PR for the IMB

International Mission Board senior leaders have directed IMB missionary personnel around the world to postpone hosting any ministry volunteer groups through June 30, leaders announced Wednesday, March 25. Consideration of missionaries hosting volunteer teams beyond June 30 will be reviewed on May 1, leaders reported.

“We’re instructing our personnel to postpone all volunteer efforts at this time due to the uncertainty of health and travel for those traveling internationally, and also to comply with the State Department’s guidance,” said IMB President Paul Chitwood. “We strongly recommend that Southern Baptist volunteer teams postpone any travel during this time, particularly overseas travel.”

Chitwood said setting a parameter about volunteer teams is a complex issue because of the global nature of the virus, including with the United States being greatly impacted and movement becoming more restricted.   [Read more…]

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IMB RECOMMENDS MISSION VOLUNTEERS POSTPONE TRAVEL

By Tess Schoonhoven
Baptist Press

hand,Bible, world, missions, map, globeRICHMOND — In light of the continuing global expansion of the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus), the International Mission Board’s coronavirus task force and senior leadership recommend that mission volunteers from U.S. churches postpone international mission-trip travel through April 30. This date could be extended and will be reevaluated by April 15.

IMB also recommends that people who have not yet purchased tickets for future travel wait and monitor continued risks of travel before buying tickets. Individuals with pre-existing conditions or immunocompromised health issues are encouraged not to travel.

The task force, which was formed to monitor the situation and make recommendations on behalf of the global organization, is extending recommendations to churches based on personal health risks, risks of spreading the virus, and the possibility of quarantine or delay by local governments including the U.S. [Read more…]

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IMB, NAMB TO JOIN IN SEND RELIEF EFFORTS

By IMB and NAMB STAFF
Baptist Press

Ronnie Floyd (center), president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, announced to EC members a new working relationship between the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board to combine compassion ministry efforts under the Send Relief umbrella. Floyd was joined in the announcement by IMB president Paul Chitwood (left) and NAMB president Kevin Ezell. — Photo by Eric Brown

NASHVILLE — The International Mission Board (IMB) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) will work together to combine compassion ministry efforts in North America and abroad under the umbrella of Send Relief. Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee (EC) announced the new working relationship during a plenary session of the EC in Nashville Tuesday, Feb. 18.

“Today I want to announce to you a formal relationship between the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board for the purpose of compassion ministry,” Floyd said.

“Southern Baptists are always at their best anytime we can cooperate together for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” [Read more…]

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IMB NAMES SOMER NOWAK AS PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ADMINISTRATOR

By Ann Lovell
IMB office

Somer Nowak was hired as IMB’s prevention and response administrator in February 2020. — IMB photo by Kathleen Murray.

IMB has selected Somer Nowak to fill the newly created position of prevention and response administrator for the 175-year-old entity. In this role, Nowak will oversee and manage prevention and response efforts for child abuse (physical and sexual), sexual harassment (including sexual assault), and domestic violence. 

IMB is the first Southern Baptist entity to create a position for this purpose, fulfilling IMB President Paul Chitwood’s commitment to lead the Southern Baptist Convention in abuse prevention and response.

“The prevention and response administrator position is evidence that IMB absolutely remains committed to making changes necessary to better prevent instances of child abuse and sexual harassment (including sexual assault) and to better care for victims while holding perpetrators accountable,” Chitwood said, announcing the selection of Nowak during the January 30, 2020, plenary session of IMB trustee meetings in Riverside, California.  [Read more…]

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IMB SENDS OUT 23 MISSIONARIES

IMB news office

Photo: -IMB

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Representing Southern Baptist churches throughout the United States, 21 International Mission Board missionaries were publicly celebrated during a service at Magnolia Church in Riverside, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 29.

The missionaries were voted on and approved by IMB trustees earlier in the week in California. Jeff Iorg, Gateway Seminary president, delivered the message at the service, spurring the congregants and missionary appointees toward their missional responsibility. [Read more…]

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IMB FIELD LEADER: ‘GOD IS AT WORK’ IN MIDDLE EAST

By Rob Collingsworth
TEXAN

MIDDLE EAST — As hostilities escalate yet again in the Middle East, Christians must ask themselves how such events affect missions in high-risk areas. For Southern Baptists in particular, whose cooperative work is centered on getting the Gospel to all people in all nations, these are delicate and important questions. Regardless of the headlines, the Gospel remains at the center of missions.

And in the face of troubling news from places like Iran and Iraq, IMB mission field leader Don Allen* says that “God is still at work, and He is evidencing more work today than I have seen in the last three decades.”

“Don’t believe all the news,” says Allen, who has worked with teams in the Middle East region for several years guiding day-to-day operations. “God is at work in ways you cannot comprehend or see, and we hold on to that.”

According to Allen, God has a plan to reach Iranians and Iraqis. “He’s not going to let anyone thwart His plan,” he says. “Even in times of great upheaval, God is at work.” [Read more…]

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GOD WORKING THROUGH SBC MISSIONARIES

By Paul Chitwood
President, International Mission Board

Paul Chitwood

Looking back on my first full year as your IMB president, the words that come to mind are: “Thank you.”

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving souls across the globe daily amid hardship and persecution, and for upholding Your servants as they go forth to share Your gospel.

Thank you, Southern Baptist family, for placing your confidence in me to lead our missionary force. It is an incredible privilege to lead the choice servants of God whom you have sent out.

This year has been marked by many victories but also by massive cyclones in Sub-Saharan Africa, political and humanitarian crises in the Americas, and large-magnitude earthquakes in Southeast Asia. [Read more…]

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SPECIFIC WAYS TO PRAY FOR MISSIONARIES

IMB Communications Staff

The 2019 goal for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering is $165M. For information on how to give, visit IMB.org.

RICHMOND — IMB president Paul Chitwood came home from a recent trip to East Africa with a plenty of memories — and 1,000 snapshots.

He knew missionaries faced challenges in taking the Gospel to the unreached. He knew the logistical and spiritual struggles could be intense for those on the front lines of pushing back the darkness.

But while he was in Africa visiting with IMB missionaries, every ride down a dusty road and every walk down a city street was a reminder that each missionary faces unique challenges.

And every single prayer for missionaries matters — he says it’s so important that missionaries know they are loved, remembered, and prayed for. [Read more…]

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MOON’S LIGHT STILL SHINING

Lottie Moon offering still impacting lives

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

The Stormer family, members of Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville, are serving as missionaries in Brazil. In the photo above, Aaron Stormer (back row, third from left), his wife, Melissa (second from left) and their children Aiden (far left), Gavin (front row, left) and Astrid (front row, right), share a smile with some ministry partners in Brazil. — Submitted photo

CLARKSVILLE —  There are trends that come and go in the Baptist culture, but the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions has remained a vital part of the Baptist fabric for more than 130 years.

The ministry has remained unchanged throughout its existence, holding steadfast to its exclusive purpose of supporting missionaries who serve abroad.

The continued significance of the LMCO, which started in 1888, can be seen in the faces of the Stormers — a five-member family from Clarksville who have been serving as missionaries in Brazil for the past two and a half years.

The Stormers, who are members of Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville, are stationed in São Paulo, a mega city of over 20 million people. [Read more…]

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STAYING FOCUSED ON OUR PASSIONATE PRIORITY

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

Randy C. Davis

There are two distinctives that bind Southern Baptists together. The first is our shared biblical belief system. Unfortunately, the Bible can be mishandled in many ways and our Southern Baptist forefathers recognized that, so in 1925, they took the providential step to clearly define what Southern Baptists believe about the Bible.

That document is known as the Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) and became our “statement of the historic Baptist conception of the nature and foundation of confessions of faith in our religious and denominational life.” The BF&M was updated in 2000 and reaffirms what we believe theologically and why we believe it.

The second distinctive that binds Southern Baptists together is our Great Commission calling to missions, and specifically our historic commitment to rally around international missions. We have always been, and we must always be, a “going” people. [Read more…]

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