Together for the Nations - Billions Still Unreached

Over 150 Ohio Baptists gathered on Saturday, September 14 at First Baptist Church, Kettering, to learn how to combat the world’s greatest problem—lostness.

Together for the Nations is a one-day event sponsored by the International Mission Board (IMB) focused on educating and motivating churches and individuals to become involved in reaching the nations.

IMB staff, Ohio pastors, and missions directors challenged attendees to make missions a priority in their churches. 

“It’s up to the senior pastor to set the pace,” said Chad Keck, senior pastor, FBC Kettering. “We need to keep missions in front of our people and make missions the heartbeat of our church. It’s not something we do. It’s something we are.”

We need to keep missions in front of our people and make missions the heartbeat of our church

Together for the Nations showcased the IMB methodology missions as well as the mechanism for missions. 

Miranda McLaughlin, IMB senior director, training development, shared what missionaries actually do on the mission field.

The Missionary Task includes six steps: Entry to culture, Evangelism, Discipleship, Healthy Church Formation, Leadership Development, and Exit to Partnership.

“We call it The Missionary Task,” she said. “It’s also the task of the church.”

The presence of IMB missionaries was a highlight for many in attendance. Missionaries were scattered throughout the auditorium, answering questions about their ministries and fellowshiping with participants.

At one table an IMB missionary couple shared their calling to Central Asia. 

“We were praying for direction for several years,” the wife said. Then she heard a presentation about Central Asia that captured her heart. All the pictures of Central Asia were brown with no vibrant colors and none of the people in the pictures were smiling.

The people looked so sad. I didn’t know who would go there

“The people looked so sad. I didn’t know who would go there,” she said. 

She talked to her husband and they started praying for the Lord to show them if they should be the ones to go to Central Asia. 

They also started learning about the region and shared what they learned with four other couples in their church. All five couples eventually packed up their families and moved to Central Asia to serve.

The couple and one of the other families served there for 20 years.

In addition to hearing from IMB staff and missionaries, attendees had the opportunity to discuss how their churches can cultivate a heart for missions overseas and in their own backyards.

Church planter Dave Perkins, LifeBridge Church, Baltimore, is working to instill a missions mindset in his congregation. LifeBridge is eight years old and moving from being the mission to being on mission.

“We are coming out of being the mission and through discipleship showing the church the needs of the nations,” Perkins said. 

Mark, Snowden, AMS, CABA, shared that the association has adopted a people group in CIncinnati. 

“There are 52 unreached people groups in Cincinnati,” he said. “Forty-one of them are not engaged at all. 

A group of teenagers from First Baptist Kettering attended the event because of their interest in missions. One young lady shared what she believes gave her a heart for missions. 

“The first step to pouring into others is to be poured into yourself,” she said. 

According to Phil Nelson, an IMB church mobilization strategist, the call to the nations is for any size church.

“All churches regardless of size or resources have a part to play in sending the gospel to the ends of the earth,” he said. 

Nelson encourages churches to tithe their members to go on a mission trip every year. If a church has 100 members, then they can send ten people on a mission.

“Ninety percent can support ten percent of your people to go,” he said. 

According to Penny Zuber, missions coordinator, Jersey Church, New Albany, four steps lead to mission involvement. 

“God asks us to pray. He asks us to give. He asks us to go and he asks us to send,” said Zuber. 

Over four billion people are waiting to hear the Good News. Ohio Baptists, let’s go!