This post comes from the same missionary who authored the previous post that was read so widely. NOTE: I am aware of the author’s identity and made the decision that his reasons for anonymity were valid. Part One from this missionary can be found here.
I wrote anonymously earlier to draw attention away from who is writing to what is written. Do Southern Baptists know or care that the mission effort that inspired the cooperation of our churches is declining? I believe it matters to God that we are letting slip away the most effective way for Southern Baptists to impact the world. My wife and I are products of a Southern Baptist home, church, college, and seminary, but it was the leadership and mentoring we received as FMB/IMB missionaries that had the greatest impact on our ability to accomplish our mission task. When we arrived overseas I had ministry education and experience, but no idea how to plant churches in our new home. Nobody was assigned as our mentor, so we sought out the advice and experience of the veterans already there. We are so grateful for those who had gone before us and were patient with our constant questions. I do not know if we would have stayed long-term if it had not been for that mission family who loved us and encouraged us. The mission team has been the critical unit for reaching the world since the New Testament.
The broader American mission world needs the continued strong presence of the IMB. What is happening in the American mission community can be seen in the Evangelical Missiological Society. It reflects a trend in American “evangelical” circles to move away from boldly proclaiming Jesus as the only way and calling people to believe. The IMB and SBC have been a consistent voice against the trend that Bible translators in the Muslim world take out all references to “Son of God” because Muslims might object. We have spoken against a popular trend in many mission agencies that advocates adding Jesus to existing religious systems like Islam and Hinduism. Many consider it success when Muslims consider Jesus a prophet, which they already do, and Hindus consider Jesus a really neat god among all the others, which they already do. For example, not long ago a pastor acquaintance invited me to lunch to meet his mission partner, and I almost choked on my burger when I realized that this was the man who had caused great grief for my IMB colleagues working among Muslims where his Christian trainees had publicly converted to Islam and entered the local mosque in order to start an “insider movement.” Sadly, autonomous SBC churches are generous supporters of some of these agencies. In contrast, IMB missionaries share the gospel for the purpose of leading the lost to religious conversion with cultural continuity, which we know to be biblical contextualization. Postmodern relativism is creating havoc in some American mission circles where there is little confidence in the divine power of the gospel to call men and women to repentance and the miracle of new birth. If the IMB continues to decline for lack of support from SBC churches, then our light will dim in these circles as well.
A number of years ago, a major mission agency sent leaders to visit and learn from IMB staff in Richmond. Because one of them was a friend and partner from the field, I was curious to know their impressions of the IMB. When I asked what they had learned, there was a long pause before my friend said, “Until this visit we did not know how high the bar could be in terms of the number and quality of experts that could serve a mission organization.” I was so proud that day of the men and women who had served me and thousands of missionaries around the world with their expert ministry in the home office. Many of those valuable experts are no longer with the IMB, due in part to communication that their long-term experience was not valued.
A decade ago, about 100 IMB missionaries participated in a global consultation of numerous mission agencies working in the Muslim world. It became obvious that we not only had perhaps the largest contingent at the conference, our personnel had served longer and were more fluent in language than the average participant. The IMB actually only sent a small percentage of personnel due to the cost. It was also evident that our teams could report believers and churches in many of the places we served. Each day we met in mixed groups to share about different aspects of our work and each evening conference planners went over notes from the groups.
One evening a VP from another agency came from reviewing those group notes and told several of us there were some obvious qualities of IMB participants.
First, he said that many other agencies were shocked, but thrilled, that the IMB could bring so many veteran missionaries. He noted that no other mission agency in the world could have deployed and developed so many long-term missionaries in such a short time (after the 1997 IMB New Directions). In other words, our cooperative, fully-funded, and global strategy had placed us in a position to impact one of the largest concentrations of lostness on earth.
Second, he acknowledged that some were surprised that we were seeing fruit in so many places in spite of the fact we avoided more radical forms of contextualization.
Thirdly, he stated, “We see a consistent pattern that IMB missionaries rarely discuss the latest anthropological journal articles, but they constantly reference Scripture as their guide and inspiration.” I thanked him for giving us the greatest compliment possible, whether he meant it that way or not!
In August 2015 when the announcement went public about the IMB VRI, a missionary friend and partner from another agency sent me a note that included these words,
“For decades the FMB/IMB have trained and sustained workers that have probably directly or like NASA indirectly birthed more fruit for the KINGDOM than any other single mission agency. Being part of another like-minded agency I can’t say enough good about the strategic direction and leadership the SBC has continually provided during my 25+ years on the field. Whether it be via Creative Access, people group thinking, non-residential missionaries, strategy coordinator training, redeployment of personnel from reached to lesser reached areas, church planting movement research and training and making solid statistical data available to the greater mission world. I’m not wise enough to pronounce what God is up to, but I do hope the IMB is able to continue to lead the pack in strategic leadership for the KINGDOM. The greater mission community NEEDS a strong and vibrant IMB.”
I have given you several examples of other mission experts affirming the role that the IMB has played around the world. The question is whether Southern Baptists will value the treasure that God has given us, but that we have neglected. The cooperative sending of God-called, long-term missionaries to the nations has been the core business of the SBC since 1845. We emeriti are not asking if we can get back to the past, but will we support the missionaries who are serving faithfully now and will we facilitate the sending of the younger generation? Is the IMB too valuable to lose?
IMB Emeritus Missionary
This needs to be run in every Baptist State Paper..
It is available to anyone who would like to us it. My only desire is that as many Southern Baptists as possible get this information.
Yes the IMB is too valuable to use. It consistently puts qualified/compassionate/Kingdom focused feet on the ground where people have never heard the Gospel, even once. I lead the church I pastor to heavily support the Lottie Moon offering each year, but as important, I encourage them to pray passionately for those our denomination deploys. We need to encourage our fellow believers to move beyond financial support to developing a heart connection for the cause with the folks we send overseas.
This is excellent.
This is excellent. Thank you.
Per your previous post, is the reduction in missionaries not a reduction in actual number, but a change in status? Logistics and I think education and membercare are slowly being switched from missionary personnel status to non-missionary personnel status for a variety of reasons.
I know a number of logistics personnel in our area that no longer have STAS, aren’t expected to speak in churches, don’t have the same evangelism, CP requirements, etc.
Support Personnel who have been moved to or have chosen to move to the Field Support Role (FSR) are still missionary status the same way that Journeymen, ISC, or Masters are. All of those pathways have different benefits and requirements than the Career Missionary pathway, however they are still counted in the number of missionaries and are still considered missionaries. Also, not all people in those particular assignments (logistics, finance, member care, education, etc.) have moved to the FSR. My husband and I are in Logistics and are still Career Missionaries. It all depended on if you were Career status… Read more »
This is good information for Southern Baptists to have. The reduction of 800 -1,000 veteran missionaries was and continues to be a great loss to our missions efforts. When I was a first-term missionary, a veteran missionary said to me, “During your first term (four years) you learn the people and culture; during your second term the people learn you; and during your third term you really get some work done.” Some languages and cultures require many years to learn. (Some missionaries to Japan continue to work with a language tutor weekly as long as they are in the country.)… Read more »
Another good article anonymous. I am also an emeritus FMB/IMB missionary and share your experience of being mentored by veteran missionaries when I arrived on the field. You used the term mission family. I have noticed this is not used as often as in the past. Nor the terms missionary aunt, uncle or cousin. I regret seeing this take place. I started in a traditional mission many years ago, but I also served in the affinity group era. You friend mention, “For decades the FMB/IMB have trained and sustained workers that have probably directly or like NASA indirectly birthed more… Read more »
I really would like to know what the trustees were doing during the financial problems (aside from fighting with Wade Burleson). I blame them for not watching over the IMB and the finances that tanked. Of course, Rankin and Eliff had a place in this, but where was the oversight?
The trustees I have talked to are great people who want the best. It does appear to me that they have been kept at arms length and have often not known details until decisions are reported after the fact. The internecine conflict with Wade ended around 2005 and the financial problems did not arise until around 2008, so there was no connection to those two issues.
Color me confused.
I thought the trustees were in charge. That they are tasked with overseeing. Weren’t they doing their jobs? Why did they allow themselves to be kept at arms length?
I would agree that the trustees should have been more involved in the fiscal oversight of the IMB. Many of my personal friends were trustees during Dr. Rankin’s tenure. Unfortunately, my dear friends questioned little while on the board, did not solicit feedback from field personnel (although they did make regional trips periodically), and often rubber stamped whatever the staff of the board and Dr. Rankin placed before them. I think the current board of trustees takes their responsibility much more seriously and they have a great leader who takes his job to heart. We need to pray for the… Read more »
As the search committee begins its task to replace David, my hope is that David’s decision to bring back Clyde Meador is not an attempt to continue to control the IMB via proxy. Clyde, who has a great deal of my respect, was a big proponent in bringing David to the IMB and was a part of the executive team that allowed the dire financial situation to develop in the first place. I hope that the search committee is wise enough not to use the same line of reasoning with which Clyde advised the committee who sought David. But more… Read more »
Clyde was an effective front-liner, field leader, and home office leader. I am glad he is around to advise.
I don’t question Clyde’s leadership at all. I just hope he does allow the search committee listen to the field missionaries and not necessarily try to influence the process into former pathways.
That sounds a little conspiratorial, Pat…and totally unrealistic.
Unfortunately this is not my first closeup rodeo with the IMB. My thoughts are only conspiratorial if you are not looking at a bigger picture. I guess the future will tell.
Pat, you’ve got legitimate questions, but I believe a careful examination of the situation should alleviate some of them. – Platt running the show by proxy: Platt seems to be a guy who throws himself into what he is doing. I cannot imagine his taking on a preaching position, clearly a passion for him, while looking back to the IMB presidency. Neither can I envision someone of Meador’s gravitas allowing it to happen. Besides, if Platt wanted to control the IMB, all he would need to do is remain as president. – Clyde as part of the financial problem: While… Read more »
I agree with what you mention about Clyde. It would be foolish to make the same financial error so soon. But brother, I think you are completely mistaken (actually wrong) on Sebastian’s role in strategy on the field. Where do you think the emphasis on Business as Mission came from? Where do you think the emphasis on landing cities came from? Where do you think the mega-city team approach came from? – Sebastian. There’s no debating Sebastian’s role in strategy.
Thanks, Pat, for interacting. Business as Missions? We used to call that Marketplace Advance. A guy named Charles Clark oversaw it; he had spent years in South America before moving to Richmond to take over. The idea of business people moving into the lost world and partnering with the IMB has been around for years, going at least back to around 2012 or 2013. Ditto the use of exchange students; again, the idea was to work with those who were already heading out there, making them a part of our teams. The student side was applied in Europe, especially among… Read more »
Thank for your wise words. I’m still out there on the field. Something I see looming is a lack of living examples. Mission life can be difficult. Your stateside church moves on without you. Grandparents and siblings fill the hole left by your absence with newer family members. Holidays go ignored. Favorite foods and traditions are inaccessible. Your teammates are immature jerks; the language is hard. Your neighbor complains about the weirdest things, and everyone in the building expects you to give in because you’re the foreigner. The wonderful house church you thought you would have transformed into 90 minutes… Read more »
Ethan, When you say, “Your teammates are immature jerks,” I sure hope you are not talking about your team on the field where you serve. I’ve seen some of those folks classified this way stay with their hand to the plow for decades and bear fruit that only a firmly planted God-called person could bear fruit. I’ll pray for you team today!
I’m speaking of the experiences that folks face. It’s a reality – and sometimes, yeah, I’ve been the jerk. Missionaries, as the saying goes, are not perfect – just called.
And Pat – thanks for the prayers. Our team is doing well, probably because I’m not the jerk I once was, but trouble has a disturbing tendency to pop out at these moments.