Skip to content
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
Menu
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
Menu
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
The Alabama Baptist
Search
Close
The Alabama Baptist
Search
Close
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Editorials
  • Free Email Newsletter
Menu
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Editorials
  • Free Email Newsletter

North American Mission Board calls pastors to pray for new churches

  • March 13, 2022
  • Michael J. Brooks
  • Canada, Latest News, National News, North America
Mark Hobafcovich (left) with Executive Director Chris Crain of the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association.
Photo courtesy of Michael Brooks

North American Mission Board calls pastors to pray for new churches

Mark Hobafcovich said it’s interesting that he, a native Romanian, works with an American mission board, but he’s excited about being part of mobilizing pastors and churches for church planting through the North American Mission Board.

“I’m now an American citizen and a citizen of heaven,” Hobafcovich told a group of Birmingham-area pastors. “I’m happy to meet pastors and other leaders and ask them to pray for new churches to bring people to Christ.”

Hobafcovich hosted a luncheon at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham March 7, noting NAMB uses this type of gathering to cast a vision about lostness and opportunity in North America. He will host 37 similar events this year, departing Birmingham for Oxford, Mississippi then on to Memphis on this trip.

Consider planting

“Many in America and Canada have never heard the gospel,” Hobafcovich lamented. “They may have heard of Jesus but not specifically about the forgiveness and eternal life He offers to those who seek Him.

“We at NAMB come and go, but the state conventions, local associations and the churches remain. We want to build and strengthen relationships with these groups,” he asserted. “We encourage them to pray for new churches around the nation and to consider doing new church plants themselves.”

Hobafcovich said his basic message is prayer.

“Jesus had a strategy of prayer when He asked us to pray for the lord of the harvest to send laborers,” Hobafcovich noted. “This strategy hasn’t changed. We must pray for new churches and for new opportunities for the gospel to be shared in our homeland.”

Keynote  

George Wright, senior pastor of Shades Mountain, was keynote speaker at the luncheon, telling the group he felt a calling to do a church plant as a college student.

“My wife and I moved to northwest Atlanta in 2006 to plant a church and remained there 11 years,” he recalled. “We then took a church in South Carolina for five years before moving to Birmingham last summer.

“Shades Mountain has a rich missionary history, and we continue to encourage our members to be involved in missions.”

Wright said he believes the next few years could be the best for God’s Church because the culture is “hungry and desperate” — conditions that became more acute during COVID-19.

He pointed pastors to a passage in Matthew 9 Hobafcovich had cited earlier, declaring Jesus had a heart for the Kingdom of God.

“His message was about the harvest,” Wright asserted. “The Church can be known for our message about masks, vaccines and the current administration in Washington, but this is not our message. Jesus’ compassion moved Him to action, and we must also show our compassion for hurting people by loving them and sharing Christ with them.”

Wright called church planting the “evangelistic front line” of the church.

‘Heart for prayer’

“Jesus also had a heart for prayer,” he noted. “He saw the labor shortage and called us to pray. 

“Church planters depend on God and pray desperately since they know if they don’t reach the lost, their labor is a failure. All of us church leaders should hit our knees, fall on our faces and cry out for laborers to join us in the work of the harvest.”

NAMB has asked local congregations to consider linking with church planters in North America as prayer partners. A website, prayforplanters.com, identifies church planters and their locations, and individuals and churches can commit to pray for specific workers. The same information is available by texting “praying” to 888123.

NAMB.net offers further church planting stories, along with resource materials for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.

Share with others:

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on email
Email

Latest News

  • ‘Throwing out the seed’: Bible study leaders must set example in evangelism
    ‘Throwing out the seed’: Bible study leaders must set example in evangelism
    August 12, 2022/
    0 Comments
  • DOJ initiates investigation, SBC leaders respond
    DOJ initiates investigation, SBC leaders respond
    August 12, 2022/
    0 Comments
  • China tightens restrictions on Christian ministries
    China tightens restrictions on Christian ministries
    August 12, 2022/
    0 Comments

Sign up for the Highlights

Get all latest content delivered to your email a few times a month.
Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

Related Posts

‘Throwing out the seed’: Bible study leaders must set example in evangelism

August 12, 2022

Those who lead Sunday School classes have a responsibility to encourage and train members to bring the unsaved to Christ.

DOJ initiates investigation, SBC leaders respond

August 12, 2022

The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has been informed that the United States Department of Justice has initiated an investigation

China tightens restrictions on Christian ministries

August 12, 2022

BEIJING, China — The Chinese Communist Party, which restricts Christian ministries, is clamping down even tighter with the institution of

woman in gray and white striped long sleeve shirt using silver macbook

Online college programs enrolling now at UM

August 12, 2022

Online college programs offer flexibility for students interested in earning a college degree on their own schedule. The University of

Want to receive news highlights throughout the week? Sign up here!

Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

About

  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries
Menu
  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries

Explore

  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcast
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos
Menu
  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcast
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy
Menu
  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service
Menu
  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service
The Alabama Baptist
Address:
3310 Independence Dr.
Birmingham, AL 35209
Copyright © 2022 The Alabama Baptist, Inc.
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
Menu
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
Email:
news@thealabamabaptist.org

About

  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries
Menu
  • Free Email Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Our Story
  • Awards and Recognitions
  • Affiliations
  • Partner Links
  • Advertise
  • Internships
  • Find Churches
  • Classifieds
  • Special Resources
  • Special Events
  • Photo Galleries

Explore

  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcast
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos
Menu
  • Latest News
  • Archive
  • Sunday School Lessons
  • Editorials
  • Alabama News
  • Podcast
  • Obituaries
  • Theology 101
  • Someone You Should Know
  • Rashional Thoughts
  • Persecuted Church
  • Heroes of the Faith
  • Reader Response
  • About Alabama
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy
Menu
  • Story Ideas
  • Staff Change or News Item
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Reader Submissions
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Obituary
  • Correction / Clarification
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service
Menu
  • Start a new subscription
  • Renew your subscription
  • Start a new gift subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Subscribe to the TAB News app
  • Update your subscriber list
  • Subscribe to Highlights
  • Register for online access
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage Account | Customer Service

Log In

Lost your password?

Log Out?

Lost your password?

Log in

Become a part of our community!
Forgot your password? Get help

Reset password

Recover your password
A password reset link will be e-mailed to you.
Back to
Login
×
Close Panel