Mobile’s international flavor allows for unique missions work

Mobile’s international flavor allows for unique missions work

The mission of the Mobile Baptist Association’s International Ministries Center (IMC) is to be a place where seafarers and internationals feel at home.

So Mick and Adelaide fit right in.

Australian by birth, Mick — a happy black dog with dingolike ears — and Adelaide, who “looks Australian,” if a dog could, made the trek from the other side of the world to call the Mobile center home.

“It wasn’t the cheapest thing to do,” Jarrod Watts said jokingly of bringing the two from Australia. “But they are part of the family.”

Watts, who is originally from Australia, met his American wife, Jessica, when she was doing summer missions in his home country. The couple have been married for five years now, and in June 2008, they embarked on another missions adventure, this time with him living on foreign soil — in Mobile.

Working at the IMC, the Wattses serve as US/C2 missionaries, those appointed to a two-year ministry assignment through the North American Mission Board (NAMB) that helps fill needs in local associations and prepare future ministers for service.

And the dogs help, too. The couple take Mick and Adelaide to the IMC with them and use them as an avenue for outreach.

“They are an opening tool to talk to people,” Jarrod Watts said. “People want to come up and pat them and that helps start conversations.”

Thomas Wright, executive director of missions for Mobile Association, can appreciate such out-of-the-box evangelism techniques.

“US/C2 missionaries bring the enthusiasm and creative thinking of young, committed missionaries,” Wright said.

At the IMC, Jarrod Watts serves as port chaplain, reaching out to seafarers who arrive in Mobile’s port. He leads chapel services and works in one-on-one evangelism. It’s a constantly changing ministry as people come and go every few days but one that he finds rewarding.

In 2008, there were more than 200 decisions made through the work at the IMC.

“The most exciting part is what we’re here for — seeing people come to know Jesus,” Jarrod Watts said.

Jessica Watts serves as coordinator for the IMC’s International Language School, which hosts English as a Second Language classes in five churches around the Mobile area. Before she and her husband arrived, one woman directed and taught at all of the locations.

Because her work as a US/C2 missionary is temporary, Jessica Watts has focused on restructuring the five language programs so that they are based in their individual churches and will be able to continue functioning without direct supervision from the IMC once her term of service has ended.

“Mostly what I’m doing is encouraging the churches and the volunteers,” she said.

Another US/C2 missionary with Mobile Association is Emily Toles, who is based at the association’s Camp Whispering Pines in Citronelle.

Since September 2008, Toles, a native of north Alabama, has been helping with ongoing retreats and events and preparing for the camp’s busy summer season. In addition, she is working in community outreach, developing a coffeehouse ministry and assisting with ongoing repairs as the camp continues to recover from the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“We’re working on getting the buildings up and building up the programs,” Toles said.

Toles said she has had to adjust to full-time camp life, especially after spending her college years in Chicago, but she is enthusiastic about the US/C2 program. “NAMB is really great. They’re really supportive and good about checking in,” she said.

The work of the three US/C2 missionaries is beneficial for both them and the association, Wright said.

“The nature of a missionary position includes flexibility and proactive response to overwhelming and changing community needs,” he said. “Associational missions provide a crucible for placing young missionaries in high-need areas where they can make an eternal difference.”