2000s
The number of missionaries exceeded 5,000 as more and more unreached people groups were engaged. In countries hostile to the gospel, missionaries developed creative methods to enter an area and make disciples.
At the start of the new millennium, the New Directions initiative was moving full-speed ahead: in 2001, the number of International Mission Board missionaries exceeded 5,000 for the first time, and 30 active, ongoing church planting movements were reported around the world.
Even the global age of terror, which hit the United States with full force on September 11, 2001, didn’t dampen missionary enthusiasm. Two months after the attacks, the largest group of new missionaries to date, 124, were appointed to serve around the world. Tragically, throughout the decade Southern Baptists died in terrorist attacks, including relief workers in Iraq, medical professionals in Yemen, and a missionary in the Philippines.
As missionaries continued to engage greater numbers of unreached people groups, often in areas with open hostility to the gospel, they had to find creative ways to share God’s Word and make disciples. Some were able to live in countries by taking on jobs as teachers and business owners; others simply had to make disciples in secret.
IMB Milestones
Significant Ministry Events
Missionaries Required to Sign 'Baptist Faith and Message'
The International Mission Board began requiring all missionaries to sign the "Baptist Faith and Message 2000" as a sign of agreement with essential Southern Baptist beliefs.
Missionary Count Exceeded 5,000
The International Mission Board’s missionary count exceeded 5,000 for the first time — meeting one of the major goals of Bold Mission Thrust, adopted by Southern Baptists 25 years earlier.
Oral Learners Engaged Through Storying
The International Mission Board began emphasizing the use of chronological Bible storying to share God’s Word with oral learners — those who learn through non-literate means. Orality became a major emphasis as missionary teams started to engage millions who either couldn’t read or who preferred to digest Scripture through oral methods like storytelling and song.
Over 500,000 People Baptized
For the first time, Southern Baptist missionaries and their overseas partners baptized more than 500,000 people in a single year.
Budget Shortfalls Cut Missionary Appointments
Budget shortfalls forced the International Mission Board to limit new missionary appointments for the first time since the Depression.
Field Work Restructured as Affinity Groups
Overseas work was restructured into nine affinity groups so ministries could expand beyond traditional geographic approaches to those in which all people groups, regardless of where they lived, could have access to the gospel. Leaders considered how to ensure people such as South Americans living in Europe or Asians in Africa were not overlooked in mission strategies. The Deaf were recognized as an affinity group, affirming the perspective that most of the world’s Deaf possess a shared identity that supersedes their ethnic identity.
Missions in Context
Major World Events
Civilians Allowed Access to Military-Grade GPS Signals
The U.S. government’s Global Positioning System (GPS) had been available to civilians since 1983; however, signals were intentionally degraded to work only within a radius of 100 meters. In 2000, civilians were granted full access to military-grade GPS for both civil and commercial uses. GPS is an invaluable tool for missionaries as they travel for ministry and track locations of churches and unreached people groups.
Terrorists Attacked the United States
In the deadliest terrorist attack in human history, hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Another hijacked plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field. In a matter of hours, 2,977 people were killed, and 25,000 were injured. A few weeks later, the U.S. launched Operation Enduring Freedom with airstrikes against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. On November 13, the International Mission Board appointed 124 new missionaries — the largest group to date — despite global fears in this new “age of terror.”
Not Dangerous but Lost
After the events of 9/11, Southern Baptists were urged to look "beyond the wall" that separates Muslims and Christians.
Tsunami and Hurricane Wreaked Havoc in Asia and the U.S.
The day after Christmas 2004, a massive earthquake and tsunami struck vast stretches of Asian coastline, killing over 227,000 people. Southern Baptists responded by sending missionaries, volunteers and more than $16 million in relief aid, and many areas untouched by the gospel opened up for the first time. A few months later, Hurricane Katrina hit the southern United States, causing around 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in property damages.
Apple Released the First iPhone
Apple Inc. revolutionized cell phones and Internet communications with the iPhone, the first mobile phone to use touchscreen interactivity. Social media quickly took off as apps like Facebook (launched in 2004) and Instagram (2010) became available at the touch of a button. Missionaries began using smartphones to access language learning tools, evangelism apps, social media platforms and more to make disciples among thousands of languages and cultures.
Great Recession Crippled the U.S. Economy
Considered the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Great Recession affected real estate, banking and world financial markets. U.S. unemployment was close to 10 percent, and the Dow Jones plummeted to half its value. Residual effects included a downturn in charitable giving over the next few years, including donations to the International Mission Board and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®. As a result, the IMB limited the number of new missionaries sent in 2009.
Missionary Profiles
Honoring Faithful Service
Martha Myers
Her casket was built by the people of Yemen “who loved her.” Over 40,000 Yemenis filed past her body on the day of her funeral.
Todd and Kimberly
Centuries of Islam, Communism and no gospel access cemented shut the hearts of a Muslim people group in a Balkan nation, but Todd and Kimberly believed the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.
Troy and Tracey Lewis
Empty pill boxes, nausea, depression. Troy and Tracey believed people on the cusp of entering eternity had the most urgent need for the gospel.
Ying and Grace Kai
Within a decade, more than 1.7 million people became Christians, and more than 150,000 churches were started.
Zane and Catherine Pratt
Zane and Catherine marched up to the tomb of a ruthless conqueror known for the eradication of Christianity in Central Asia and said, “We’re back.”
God at Work
Stories From The Field
Aid Workers in Iraq Faithful unto Death
It had been a good day in Mosul, Iraq. Five Southern Baptist workers were making progress toward a water purification project. They had met with officials and laughed with new Iraqi friends. They were headed home for a night's rest before starting again the next morning. ...
Judson - Tale of Two Men
Adoniram Judson labored tirelessly to spread the gospel in Burma. Two hundred years later, a Burmese evangelist is doing the same.
Grieving Christians Aid Their Tsunami-Stricken Village
“Daddy, what's that?" Paramesvaran looked toward the ocean. Curiosity turned to horror as a 30-foot wave bore down on the man and his 5-year-old son, Kirubasan. He grabbed the boy and ran. But it was too late. ...
Nigerian Baptists Celebrate 150 Years of Gospel Witness
Nigeria was among the first countries to receive missionaries from what then was Southern Baptists' new Foreign Mission Board, established in 1845. Thomas Jefferson Bowen set sail for Nigeria in 1850. He began his ministry in the town of Abeokuta. ...
Remember
Since the beginning, missionaries have given their lives to take the gospel to people who are worth dying for.
Bolivian Baptist pastor Felix Choque and IMB missionary Mark Lozuk pray for an ailing lady in the remote village of Qeoqo in the Bolivian Andes.
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A youth volunteer from Arizona uses an EvangeCube to explain the gospel to a group of children in a school near Mombasa, Kenya.
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Missionary kid John Mark Maust jumps with Quichua children in the mountain village of Pilahuin, Ecuador. Richard Ross, professor of youth ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, turns the rope.
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Central Baptist Church in Moscow, Russia, holds a three-week training seminar for Deaf Russians who have traveled in from other parts of the country.
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In Khiyam, Lebanon, a man sits on the front porch of his house, which was destroyed by Israeli rockets during the war between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army.
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Russian Christians pray during a morning church service at Central Baptist Church in Nizhny Novgorod.
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Moon was sold into prostitution at age 13 and was subject to abuse and exploitation every day for years. Pictured here, at age 18, she is married with two children and is becoming a new woman in Christ as a result of her relationships with American and Asian Christians in Thailand.
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Rebecca Niogotsi (center) and other members of Sharon Baptist Church in Cape Town, South Africa, sing and dance after a church service.
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In the waters of the Amazon river outside Manaus, Brazil, Thomas Latham helps baptize a Brazilian girl who professed faith in Christ earlier that day.
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A Senegalese woman who had been burned celebrates how much her arm has healed after summer missionary Jennifer Schultz, from Greenville, North Carolina, removes her bandage.
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In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a church Bible study meets in Cidade de Deus (City of God), one of the most dangerous slums in South America. The church meets on the tops of buildings and under pavilions for Sunday school.
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Marc Tolson (right), from North Richland Hills, Texas, studies the Bible with Lo-Lo (left), using a translator (center) to communicate. Tolson came to Niger with a volunteer team from First Baptist Church of Hurst, Texas.
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At a mobile medical clinic in Thailand, a man prays and puts his trust in Christ as his Savior. Wichai (left), a strong evangelist who works alongside missionary Dr. Doug Derbyshire, prays with him. The medical team is from Casa Sudovas Church in Arizona.
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In the aftermath of typhoons Ketsana and Pepeng, men from Oklahoma, Kentucky and Texas clean up the basement level of Nangka High School in the Philippines. The mud had reached the ceiling of the basement floor, and the floodwaters reached the third floor of the school.
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A man in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, shows a medical team the foundation of his house — all that was left after the 2004 tsunami hit his village. His wife and son died during the tsunami, and he did not find his wife’s body for 20 days.
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