During its report to Southern Baptists on June 13, the International Mission Board celebrated 79 new missionaries and announced a new effort to send “missionary explorers” to 3,000 people groups not yet engaged with the gospel.
Paul Chitwood, IMB president, explained the scope of Project 3000 after messengers heard the stories of the soon-to-be-sent missionaries during the Sending Celebration.
“As an expression of our commitment to pursue every people group on earth, the International Mission Board has identified the remaining 3,072 people groups that no one has been engaging with the gospel until now,” he said.
This week, IMB is launching Project 3000 to send out 300 new “missionary explorers,” each assigned to scout out 10 of those remaining groups.
‘Get to know them’
“Each missionary explorer will find their assigned unengaged, unreached people group, research them, get to know them, find out where they live, learn their culture, discern their literacy, share the gospel with them and determine strategies,” Chitwood said.
The explorers will also become prayer warriors for the group and find national partners to work alongside them, he said.
“In so doing, these missionary explorers will play a key part of entry in the missionary task, cultivating gospel access among the least-reached peoples of the earth,” Chitwood said.
After that, IMB teams will continue the work, moving the group from unengaged to engaged and then reached.
Chitwood said IMB plans to send out the first 100 missionaries through Project 3000 “this very year.”
For more information about Project 3000, visit imb.org/missionary-explorer.
To view more photos from the IMB report, click here.
To view more photos from the Sending Celebration, click here.
To read the full story, click here.
Share with others: