Our Global Cities Emphasis offers an unprecedented opportunity to impact over 100 million people living in the 75 largest and most influential global cities, while also learning together across our organization to capture lessons, develop strategies and equip a new generation of city leaders to reach their cities with the gospel. Your gift will undergird IMB’s organization-wide, global-cities emphasis to train, resource, and connect city leaders to engage megacities comprehensively. Specifically, your gift will allow us to equip our missionaries along these learning continuums:
1. Cohorts: The City Leaders of the 75 Global Cities will be part of a global learning community called, Global Cohorts, consisting of eight to 10 leaders who come together virtually and in-person over a two-year period to reshape their strategies to engage comprehensively, address common trends impact urban communities, sharpen their skills and learn together to reach their cities.
2. Networks: Our Global Cities network includes all of our City Leaders, their teams and partners. This network host quarterly Urban Webinar featuring thought leaders from IMB and our partner organizations to help us explore trends impacting urban cities. The network also provides online resources to increase our collective Cities IQ, as we seek ways to accelerate our capacity to engage these global cities.
3. Conferences: Beyond learning via global cohorts, webinars and networks, we bring our city leaders and key partners together annually to address emerging issues and obstacles that hinder our ability to effectively engage Global Cities.
Will you prayerfully consider a gift to the Global Cities emphasis?
Opportunities abound. When IMB leaders saw the exponential growth expected in urban areas worldwide, they knew God was calling us to act. With fervent prayer and passionate research, we developed a strategy and clear objectives—engage 75 global cities with comprehensive strategies to share the gospel. With your partnership, we see that goal as entirely achievable.
Progess seen. We are praying and strategizing to see these cities evangelized. With your help, 42 cities now have comprehensive strategies, with 25 additional city leaders developing their comprehensive strategies for every person in the cities to hear and respond to the gospel. In addition, we are beginning new strategy groups in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.
Your gifts make an impact. Because of your generosity, we recently gathered 100 city leaders from around the world to train, share ideas, and strategize. These leaders met for the first time since the pandemic to learn and exchange ideas.
Please join us in prayer.
Pray for discernment as we develop strategies for reaching each city for Christ.
These comprehensive plans include
View of Bogotá, Colombia.[/caption]
For example, in Bogota, Columbia, the culture of the city divides the population based on their economic status—the slums, poor, working-class, middle-class, professional-class and upper-class. In each of these segments, there are multiple people groups. The slum population includes Venezuelan refugees as well as Columbia migrants.
The comprehensive plan for the city seeks to develop relationships in each of these groups that can lead to the flow of the gospel across the city. We are working with local church planters who are starting churches across some of the segments in the city, while also seeking partnerships with established churches and other partners to engage sectors where we have less access and fewer relationships.
On behalf of our entire team, thank you so much for your sacrificial support of God’s work to reach the multitudes for Christ.