By Editor Bob Terry
When an Alabama native was appointed a Southern Baptist international missionary during the Nov. 15 missionary appointment service in Huntsville, the total number of Alabamians serving under the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) International Mission Board (IMB) reached 309.
The name of the person appointed was not mentioned in The Alabama Baptist nor was a picture of the new missionary published. This newest of missionaries has accepted an assignment in a part of the world where being publicly identified as a Christian missionary could result in physical harm to the individual as well as to those national Christians with whom the individual might work.
The missions scene has changed much from the days when churches proudly publicized that members of their congregation had been appointed as international missionaries and parents told even casual friends about their children serving overseas.
Now, in the majority of cases, churches may mention the names of church members serving as missionaries. Churches may even say in what part of the world the missionaries are serving. But because IMB missionaries now serve in situations where close identity with a country may be dangerous, specific information about the missionary or the country is closely guarded.
Parents are careful about sharing where their children serve. The IMB even cautions parents about sharing personal information about their missionary child with fellow church members and never with news media. Electronic communications mean a vague reference in most any publication can be traced to a specific identity.
That is one reason The Alabama Baptist is not printing the pictures, names and countries of Alabamians under appointment as we usually do this time of year.
The IMB was able to furnish such information for 180 Alabamians serving in eight of the 11 regions into which the IMB divides the world. These missionaries serve in places where their identity can be known.
But 180 is slightly less than 60 percent of Alabama Baptist missionaries now under appointment. That leaves a little more than 40 percent serving in places where their physical well-being could be jeopardized if they were to be identified.
In some nations where missionaries have traditionally served, missionary presence has been severely scaled back or eliminated. Missionaries have moved to people groups in the interiors of some continents, people long overlooked with the gospel.
In some cases, these people groups are social outcasts, and missionaries are condemned for working with them.
The primary focus of international missions now is on the hard to reach places — places closed to missions — that area of the world called “The Last Frontier” for Christianity.
This approach has made generalities about international missions impossible to make. Some missionaries live in cities with all the resources of a metropolitan area. Some live at the end of a dirt trail with no running water or other amenities.
Some serve with other missionaries nearby. Some go months without seeing a fellow missionary. Some are well known for their Christian witness. Some are more clandestine because every time they share the good news about Jesus, they are risking death.
Each one stands in a long train of fellow Alabama Baptists who have helped proclaim the forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. Since the beginning of the IMB in 1845 to the present, 955 native Alabamians have been appointed through the IMB, according to official sources.
For more than a century and a half, Alabama Baptists have stood beside these heroes of the faith in prayer support and financial support. We still do. Most churches pray for missionaries every time they meet. The SBC’s daily prayer calendar provides names of missionaries (sometimes pseudonyms) on their birthday.
In addition to missions giving channeled through the Cooperative Program, this time of the year, Southern Baptists across the nation focus on a special offering for international missions named for legendary Baptist missionary to China Lottie Moon. The national goal this year is $150 million. Alabama’s portion is $9.5 million. The special offering provides more than half of the IMB’s total budget.
Officials are prayerful as the weeklong emphasis for international missions begins Dec. 4. Last year’s offering of $133 million was about a $3 million drop from the 2003 total. IMB officials noted that in addition to the Lottie Moon offering, Southern Baptists gave an extra $16 million to tsunami relief in the middle of the Lottie Moon offering promotion.
This year, Baptists have given to hurricane relief in generous ways. IMB officials are praying that the compassion demonstrated toward hurricane victims will not lessen Southern Baptist response to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.
Alabama Baptist missionaries are counting on Southern Baptists continuing to stand with them through prayer and financial support. So are the other 5,082 international missionaries under IMB appointment.
These men and women are doing their part. Now we must do ours. Participate in the Week of Prayer for International Missions activities in your church, and give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.
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