By Lindsey Williams
Staff Writer
Eight more Mississippi Baptists are responding to Christ’s extraordinary call to missions. Earlier in September, Chad McCord, director of missions mobilization at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, crossed paths with them at Southern Baptists’ International Mission Board (IMB) headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, where missionaries are equipped through a seven-week training before being sent out to the regions in which they will serve.
The training is designed for mid-term and long-term missionaries to prepare men, women, and families for the difficulties and demands they may face overseas. For safety and security purposes, the missionaries-to-be are not identified in this article.
Of the many missionaries attending this particular training, six units (two married couples and four single journeymen) were from Mississippi. The couples are being sent out as long-term career missionaries, one couple to serve with Member Care (essentially pastoral care for IMB missionaries) and the other couple to serve in Europe to a spiritually devastated country.
McCord had the privilege of meeting three of the four journeymen, all of whom are women college graduates offering up two years of their lives to serve in challenging frontier locations.
“Praise God for women willing to sacrifice many of the comforts of life in the U.S. to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth,” McCord said, “but I had to ask myself, ‘Where are the young men?’ These ladies are going to places where Christians are heavily persecuted.”
IMB President Paul Chitwood frequently remarks, “The greatest problem in the world is lostness,” so when Mississippi Baptists are faithful to follow Christ to the ends of the earth, giving significant portions of their lives for the sake of the Gospel, the Church has every reason to celebrate and support them.
“Missionaries don’t like to be called ‘heroes,’ even though many people in churches call them such,” McCord said. “They would say they are simply being obedient to the command of Christ to ‘Go and make disciple of all nations…’” (Matthew 28:18-20).
“I think we must always celebrate obedience. These missionaries are being obedient to the command of Christ,” McCord stressed.
For more information on missions opportunities. McCord can be contacted at cmccord@mbcb.org. Telephone: (601) 292-3398. Information on Southern Baptist international missions can be found here.
Missions opportunities are supported by gifts to the Mississippi Cooperative Program, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, and designated gifts.
