Paul Chitwood speaks with newly appointed missionaries, Tyler and Rachel English. Along with their daughters, Asher (5), Graycen (3), and Wrenley (1), they will serve as missionaries in Guatemala. Tyler grew up on the mission field, and Rachel’s uncles (D.Ray and Daren Davis) serve with the IMB. IMB Photo

Daniel and Kaci Nease are returning to Poland. The missionary couple is being sent to plant churches by a church plant in Colorado, The Mission. IMB Photo

Fifty members of Coats Baptist Church in North Carolina, gather for a group photo with their newly appointed missionaries, and fellow members, Bradley and Ember Wilkie. The church rented a bus and drove to Virginia for the Sending Celebration. Other friends and family also gathered at the North Carolina church to watch the service online. IMB Photo

Michael Garner hugs Carol Sasnett after the Feb. 1 Sending Celebration near Richmond, Virginia. Ed and Carol Sasnett have known and discipled Michael and Jennifer Garner for more than 30 years as their pastor. He is humbled every time God calls someone from their church to the mission field. IMB Photo

Missionary candidates who move through the pipeline are approved by IMB trustees, then blessed by Southern Baptists for service to the nations at Sending Celebrations held during the year. Brian L. Zunigha, IMB trustee and director of discipleship ministries at California Baptist University, leads in a time of prayer for the missionaries being sent globally. IMB Photo

Family and friends from Happy Valley Baptist Church in Arizona, surround newly appointed career missionary, Tiffany Ford, (center) in prayer during the IMB Sending Celebration Feb 1. The moment was extra special for Ford as her parents and former youth leaders send her to the nations. IMB Photo

Paul and Michelle Chitwood, greet newly appointed missionaries and their families before the Sending Celebration. IMB Photo

A fifth-generation missionary stands with her husband, sharing the testimony of how they were called to South Asia as missionaries. These missionaries’ identities are obscured because some missionaries are called to people groups that may be hostile toward the gospel. For their safety and those they serve among, they are not publicly connected with IMB. In their countries of service, they are generally known by their real names or sometimes by a nickname given to them by local friends. IMB Photo

Terry Pedigo, IMB staff and a fellow church member of Tyler and Rachel English, prays over the newly appointed missionary couple during a backstage prayer time led by IMB President Paul Chitwood after the Sending Celebration. IMB Photo

Alba Mosquera is fulfilling a call she felt from the Lord in 2008. The former teacher will be using the cross-cultural experience her job and church have given her to share the gospel with Europeans. IMB Photo

In college, Natalie Nation realized that God could use her skills and passion for swimming to impact places where few are choosing to follow Christ. She is headed to Yokohama to serve Japanese college students as a swim coach. IMB Photo

“Our hearts ache for the Japanese people, my people,” Hiromi Price said. She and her husband, Rick, are headed back to Japan, this time as missionaries, “so that Heaven will be more crowded with Japanese,” they said. IMB Photo

Saleem and Sue Ellen Bhayani are being appointed as missionaries to France. The Bhayanis are sent by Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas. IMB Photo

Tyler and Rachel English, along with their daughters, Asher (5), Graycen (3), and Wrenley (1), will serve as missionaries in Guatemala. Tyler grew up on the mission field, and Rachel’s uncles (D.Ray and Daren Davis) serve with the IMB. IMB Photo

Tyler and Rachel English, along with their daughters, Asher (5), Graycen (3), and Wrenley (1), will serve as missionaries in Guatemala. Tyler grew up on the mission field, and Rachel’s uncles (D.Ray and Daren Davis) serve with the IMB. IMB Photo

Mike Domke, an IMB missionary, encourages and prays for a woman with four children. She recently came to faith but still struggles. Domke, met the woman at the Water of Life Church in Lutsk, Ukraine. The church, with the help of Send Relief, provides food packets to the community. IMB Photo

Mike Domke, an IMB missionary, speaks during a church service at Water of Life Church in Lutsk, which is located in western Ukraine. Domke and Cade and Ginny Wheeler, who serve with Send Relief, visited the church, and spent time with the church’s pastor, Sasha, and his wife, Julia. The couple, with a team of young leaders, lead this growing church. The Sunday worship service is filled to standing-room-only with 130 people. With the help of Send Relief, the church provides food packets to the community. IMB Photo

Mike Domke, IMB missionary, shares the gospel with Ukrainians who gathered after receiving food distributed by Send Relief and a local church. IMB Photo

Mike Domke, IMB missionary, shares the gospel with the Ukrainians who gathered after receiving food distributed by Send Relief and a local church. IMB Photo

Mike Domke, an IMB missionary, and Cade and Ginny Wheeler of Send Relief, distribute food packets to people living near Kozelets, Ukraine. Mike shared the gospel message with the people who gathered. Send Relief partners with a local church to provide food packets to those in need in the community. IMB Photo