Two couples with Alabama ties were among 86 appointed as International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries during a Sept. 13 service at Hillcrest Baptist Church, Pensacola, Fla.
Byron and Rachel Nichols of Theodore were commissioned for service in France.
Byron Nichols, who earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of South Alabama and a master’s degree in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, will serve in evangelism and church planting.
Prior to his appointment, he taught French at Robertsdale High School and then French and Spanish at Vigor High School in Prichard.
He has also served as pastor of Grand Bay Missionary Baptist Church and interim minister of missions at Casa View Baptist Church, Dallas.
Rachel Nichols, who earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Mobile, has worked for Southern Progress Corp. in Birmingham as well as Write Impressions in Mobile. On the field, she will do community and home outreach.
Michael and Kristi Rains, along with sons Benjamin and Nathan, were appointed to serve in Peru.
Michael Rains earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of North Alabama (UNA) and a master of divinity degree in counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.
He has served as a campus minister intern in Alabama and also as a hospital chaplain in North Carolina.
In South America, he will serve as a strategy coordinator.
Kristi Rains, who earned bachelor’s degrees in history and sociology from UNA and a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Alabama, has worked previously as an emergency services counselor and assistant director at Holly Hill Hospital in Raleigh, N.C.
On the field, she will do community and home outreach.
IMB President Jerry Rankin told the missionaries, “You can’t make Him known unless you know Him. That must be the passion of your life.” When lost and searching people see that kind of passion — and the power that goes with it — in the lives of the missionaries, they will reach out to the Jesus they see demonstrated, he said.
“It’s not your strategies, it’s not your gifting,” Rankin said. “It’s the power of God’s Spirit in your life.” (TAB)
Alabamians appointed as missionaries to France, Peru
Related Posts
First Baptist Church, Union Springs, Heart of Missions
June 26, 2014
About 30 members from First Baptist Church, Union Springs, and other area churches will travel to Caruthersville, Mo., July 19–26

Teen girls learn about missions at Complete
April 10, 2014
The sent life is not the safe life. That was the message driven home to nearly 500 teen girls and
100 years after Lottie Moon’s death, IMB missionaries still risking it all
November 29, 2012
Nepalese pastors brave threats and bombs to see Christ’s name glorified in the Himalayas. Believers in West Africa bury a

Lottie Moon gave her life to answer question, ‘How many can I reach?’
November 29, 2012
She died on board a ship 100 years ago Christmas Eve — sick, exhausted, brokenhearted over leaving her beloved Chinese
Share with others: