This year, the International Mission Board is taking a moment to celebrate a significant milestone: the Journeyman program’s 60th anniversary.
On June 19, 1965, the Foreign Mission Board began sending out the first participants in a brand-new, Peace Corps-inspired initiative known as the Journeyman program. Over the course of the following six decades, the program — created for young Southern Baptists between the ages of 21 and 29 to serve two-year missionary terms — sent out more than 6,500 young adults around the world with the gospel.
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To mark the occasion, the IMB reached out to multiple former Journeymen — some who returned to serve as long-term missionaries and others who pursued a different path altogether when their terms ended — and asked them to reflect on the legacy and impact of the Journeyman program.
Many shared their time overseas was a season of deep spiritual growth as they learned to engage a lost world.
Like Alice Pettyjohn, who served in Thailand from 2003–2005. She remembered feeling awe as she witnessed God’s timing and provision on a daily basis during her Journeyman term.
“I had multiple moments when I was confident that only God had designed my interactions and meetings with people who wanted to hear who He is,” Pettyjohn said. “I think back to a train trip where I met a girl from my town. We kept getting interrupted, and I didn’t really get to share Jesus with her. I prayed that I would meet her again, and what do you know? She was on the train trip back. I was able to share with her and form a friendship with her. Months later she trusted Jesus as her Savior.”
‘Life-changing’
Or like Linda Pegram, who was overwhelmed by the spiritual darkness she encountered during her two years in Vietnam from 1972–1974.
“It shocked my spiritual senses into action,” Pegram said. “My prayer life grew; my desire to see people freed from the fear of spirits and the worship that was so offensive to Holy God grew in my heart. I learned to care deeply for the Vietnamese. My gratitude to Jesus for paying the price for my sins grew. My appreciation for His love, His Word, His ways definitely increased.”
Currently, 241 Journeymen serve overseas. Learn more about IMB’s Journeyman program for young adults ages 21-29.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kristen Sosebee and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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