RICHMOND, Va.—With white knuckles, Laekan Carter gripped the pew. She listened with her 11-year-old ears as a college student shared how he witnessed God at work while he was on mission in Africa. “One day you will walk those dusty dirt roads,” Carter felt God promise her.
New IMB missionary Laekan Carter (center) receives encouragement from her senior pastor, Michael Carney (right) and fellow church member and deacon David Rouchon. (IMB Photo by Roy M. Burroughs)
Years later, in fulfillment of that promise in her life, Carter is being sent by her church, Calvary Baptist in New Orleans, Louisiana, to train college students to share the gospel in Sub-Saharan Africa. She is one of 27 new missionaries appointed Aug. 24 by the International Mission Board during a special Sending Celebration near Richmond, Virginia. The celebration featured testimonies from each of the appointees, a Scriptural charge from Platt and emphasis on the integral role local churches play in assessing and sending Southern Baptist missionaries.
From Crosspointe Baptist Church, in Vancouver, Washington — more than 2,500 miles away from New Orleans — Stanton* and Rachel Bender* are fulfilling the call they felt from God to work where Jesus Christ’s name is unknown in Central Asia. When Rachel was 18, she attended a conference where God gave her a desire to share the gospel among the nations. For Stanton, that desire came on his 14th birthday while he was on a short-term trip to Thailand.
“God showed me that He created me with skills and interests which I should use for His glory among the peoples of the world.” —Stanton Bender
Nearly 3,100 miles across the country from Vancouver, God led Patrick and Erin Schwartz from Lowell, Massachusetts, to follow Him on mission. The new missionaries, being sent from Mill City Church to take the gospel to European Peoples, have been on a journey of obedience for years.
“At 15 years old, I placed faith in Jesus Christ,” Erin said. “At 20 years old, I went on my first mission trip and saw the God of the nations at work. At 28 years old, my husband and I are moving overseas with our daughter to minister to European peoples.”
“As a freshmen in college the Lord opened my eyes to his heart for the nations and, in turn, opened my heart to the idea of someday going,” Patrick shared. “Ten years later as a husband, new father and homeowner, Jesus began to disrupt my plans of comfort with the thought of ‘if not now, then when?’”
Commit to pray
“Why are we celebrating sending missionaries tonight? Because we’re united by the gospel, enthralled in God’s worship, and we’re focused on mission,” IMB President David Platt said. “This is why we as an IMB, as an SBC, as a coalition of churches represented in this gathering tonight — it’s why we exist: because we believe we can do more together on mission than we can apart.”
Preaching from Acts 13-14, IMB President David Platt offers 16 ways Southern Baptists can pray for missionaries. (IMB Photo by Roy M. Burroughs)
Platt said the unifying factor of the people attending the Sending Celebration in person or via livestream was “not that we all come from the same background or traditions, the same ethnicity or socioeconomic status. We’re not even in the same location. Now, what unites us together, is that we’ve all come face to face with the saving power of God in the gospel.”
Preaching from Acts 13-14, IMB President David Platt offered 16 ways Southern Baptists can pray for the new missionaries as they obey God’s call to the nations:
- Pray that they would be confident in God’s Word.
- Pray that they would be filled with God’s Spirit.
- Pray for their victory in spiritual warfare.
- Pray for their success in gospel witness.
- Pray for peace with other believers.
- Pray for favor with unbelievers
- Pray that the gospel will be clear through them.
- Pray that God will open hearts around them.
- Pray for their joy in the midst of suffering.
- Pray for their kindness in the midst of slander.
- Pray for supernatural power to accompany them.
- Pray for Christ-like humility to characterize them.
- Pray for their patience.
- Pray for their perseverance.
- Pray that God would use them to make disciples.
- Pray that God would use them to multiply churches.
Platt reassured the new missionaries that they have the prayer support of not only their 27 sending churches, but also members from the tens of thousands of churches comprising the Southern Baptist Convention.
“We have 40,000 churches behind you saying, ‘We are with you,’ praying for you, giving to support you,” he said. These 27 — and all IMB missionaries — are supported by Southern Baptists’ generous gifts through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®.
New IMB missionaries Katie and Chris Broome (right) share a moment of joy with Jerry Brown (name changed), who serves in Africa, during an Aug. 24 Sending Celebration. The Broomes, members of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., are being sent to share the gospel among European Peoples. (IMB Photo by Roy M. Burroughs)
Scott Harris, missions minister at Brentwood (Tennessee) Baptist Church and chairman of IMB’s board of trustees, echoed that support in the benediction to the celebration, which included a time of fellowship and refreshment for the new missionaries and their families and friends.
*Names changed
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is a registered trademark of Woman’s Missionary Union.