FAQ: Haiti and IMB

Do we have personnel in Haiti and are they safe?

IMB does not currently have personnel living in Haiti. IMB is continuing to work with Baptist partners who have direct ministries there.

What is being done to help after the earthquake?

IMB’s human needs partner, Baptist Global Response, is coordinating relief efforts with other Baptist partners. The Florida Baptist Convention has many ongoing ministries with Haiti and will be the primary coordinator of the Southern Baptist response there.

I want to be involved. How can I go? Give? Pray?

Assessments have begun and there will be more specific information forthcoming.

Meanwhile, you can pray for those who have lost loved ones in this disaster. Pray that as relief is provided for physical needs, opportunities will also arise for meeting spiritual needs.

Give?

Relief efforts are going to be costly. If you want to give online, please go to imb.org, click on giving, and click on human needs. 100% of your donation will be used in to provide relief; no funds will be used for administration or promotion.

Go?

Assessments have begun and we will have more information in the next several hours. As you may have heard on news reports, there is a need to make sure aid from all sources is coordinated so that all individuals will receive the help they need.

Information will be posted on imb.org later today and in following days about any specific needs.

A18C Association Training at NOBA

The Acts 1:8 Challenge is conducting a special training event for associational directors of missions all day Monday, Jan. 11, prior to the start of the Network of Baptist Associations (NOBA) Associational Summit 2010.

The event is being held to train directors of missions and Acts 1:8 Challenge state coordinators around the new Acts 1:8 Challenge Association Process.

Included in the training will be an overview of the Acts 1:8 association process, best practices of directors of missions who have implemented Acts 1:8 in their associations, and an overview of Acts 1:8 tools that are available.

Trainers include Jeff Thompson, director of missions of Concord Baptist Association, Fort Smith, Ark.; Sid Hopkins, director of missions of Gwinnett Metro Baptist Association, Lawrenceville, Ga.; and Duane Kuykendall, director of missions of the Catawba Valley Baptist Association, Hickory, N.C.

Training will be videotaped and made available via NOBA's eQuip training portal.

More information is available by email at actsone8challenge@gmail.com.

IMB Connect

Now you can access IMB’s best practices, projects, training and field information all in one place. Preparing the churches of your association for short-term missions has never been easier. We have developed training and project templates that will help churches have an effective and streamlined experience on their short-term overseas mission. It is all available to Southern Baptist churches and your association. Please go to imbconnect.net to sign up.

Churches Becoming "Missionary Encouragers"

A great way to support missions efforts in your Samaria is to adopt-a-missionary through the North American Mission Board's Missionary Encourager initiative. Individuals, Sunday School classes and even an entire church can be a Missionary Encourager!

Here's an excerpt from a recent Baptist Press article about Missionary Encourager:

"The best thing about having them adopt me was all of their prayers and e-mails," said missionary Jamie Daughtry said. "I was struggling with some things that fall and really going through a hard time. Their e-mails, letters and gifts encouraged me in a way I've never been encouraged before. God proved Himself faithful through those precious people."

Read the entire Baptist Press article here. For more information or to sign up to become a Missionary Encourager visit www.namb.net/encourager.

Dr. Rick Lance: NA Missions Important

(Click on image for video link)

The Alabama Baptist sat down recently with Dr. Rick Lance of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions to ask him about his views on the importance of North American missions and the North American Mission Board. This video offers a taste of that interview. To view the full interview, go to www.ricklance.com/missions.

NAMB Focuses on Panta Ta Ethne

The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is focusing on people groups through its new North American People Spectrum emphasis.

“The New Testament gives examples of one-on-one sharing, but in the majority of New Testament evangelism stories, groups, households, even towns came to Christ,” says Mark Snowden, a coordinator of Strategic Planning and People Groups for NAMB’s Church Planting Group.

To lay this out as a way for churches to reach their communities, the North American Mission Board has developed the North American Peoples Spectrum along with other practical resources. The Spectrum is a visual tool illustrating the ways in which people group themselves according to kinship, geography, and interests. To apply this understanding toward evangelism in a community, additional tools such as surveys, people team training, and online databases will assist churches in locating the different peoples in their communities to help members network for evangelism.

“Sharing a full gospel message requires understanding who the people are, and how they might process and understand what you’re saying,” says Snowden. “With a love and concern for the lost we can strip our cultural baggage that may confuse the gospel message and enter their world just as Jesus entered our world to give us life.”

Read the entire article at On Mission magazine's website.

Church Personalizes Missions with Great Commission Connection

Hayes Wicker, pastor of First Baptist Church, Naples, Fla., hopes change the way his church thinks about missions and missionaries by launching the “Great Commission Connection.”

The goal of GCC is to personalize missions and link missionaries and church members, while at the same time boosting support for Southern Baptists’ missions funding mechanism, according to Wicker.

Read the entire story from the Florida Baptist Witness.