Danny from Bellevue Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY has written, sharing how the IMB Church Support Staff helped in a weekend orientation program for his church’s volunteer teams. This is part of the services the IMB offers members of Southern Baptist Churches. As you will read, it can be an informative and valuable time for volunteers to begin their journey overseas.
“Dear Brad,
An IMB representative, Mike… was with us for the Friday evening and Saturday morning sessions. (He) is the Regional Church Mobilization Director for the IMB, covering several states… He did a wonderful job combining physical, practical, and logistical information along with Spiritual preparedness. Our groups benefited from his training on how to journal, prayer walk, preparing for jet lag, etc. He also used a lot of videos that reinforced his thoughts. These were IMB produced videos that discussed things like how other churches handle security. He used music videos that appealed to the heart and soul of mission activities all over the world.
I was able to use something you gave us and felt the Lord really enabled us to be blessed. On your language tape you provided, the person read John 3:16 in Songhai. I used that as a common theme throughout the weekend. Periodically we had people give testimonies. We began Friday with a video by the News Boys "He Reigns." That got everyone's attention when the lyrics say, "From every tribe and nation, He Reigns." It is a very cool video. I then introduced Mike and what to expect.
After the training portion Friday evening I invited a former IMB missionary kid and her husband to share with the group. (She) spent 10 years in (West Africa). While in college she did a lot of projects with the Kentucky Baptist Convention in Poland and France. She actually returned to live for a couple of years after college graduation. Her husband is a new believer as a result of a short term project to France. He gave his testimony in French explaining what his life was like before Christ and then how now God has introduced him to become a missionary as well. All this was done in French with (his wife) translating. It was a very effective way to give all the volunteers the idea that God is not an English speaking God and He touches lives all over the world. (This French believer) is a great example. He concluded reciting John 3:16 in French.
We met at 7:45 AM for breakfast on Saturday. We started this session with a video called "The New Generation". I forgot the band's name. However, the video was shot a few years ago using some footage from an International World Changers in Kenya that some of our students, along with (a church staff member), participated in. Again, our volunteers saw the impact Bellevue volunteers have had throughout the world. After that time we used our Hispanic Pastor and the Hispanic praise team to lead in a worship set. It was an awesome time of worship in Spanish. He also incorporated John 3:16, Spanish.
Then (our pastor) challenged the teams with John 3:16 as his basis for the devotion time. (He) has spent time in the Ukraine. He challenged the teams to open their hearts and love the world as God did and talked about the impact of sharing your hearts with people of different cultures.
Mike then did two more segments of training. Prayer walking was a priority for him along with some other physical preparations.
At a break we played the reading of John 3:16 in the Songhai language. I had printed the script of the passage out for everyone to have and see the words as the reading took place.
We closed with a SKYPE call to our own church members and IMB missionaries, who live and work in Thailand. They both talked about how God moved in their lives as a result of short-term volunteer projects. They gave a brief history of their journey. (She) then read John 3:16 to us in Thai and prayed for us in Thai.
We then had a very meaningful prayer time as our teams gathered together and Mike prayed for us.
Mike did a great job. He spent a total of about 4 1/2 hours in training and showing videos. It was good. Friday night he spoke about the state of the world and how many lost people there are. He talked of much work needs to be done and that short-term volunteers are vital to the efforts of reaching the lost.
More importantly, on a Spiritual level we were able to introduce many of our first time volunteers to the fact they will become a "world Christian" as a result of their obedience to God. We introduced them to a very simple message in John 3:16, the Gospel, in four different languages. We worshiped in Spanish and we prayed in Spanish and Thai. We took the focus off the rigors of physical preparedness and introduced in more detail the Spiritual aspect of short-term volunteer missions. My prayer is the volunteers began to realize what an impact they can have and also I wanted the weekend training to really confirm their decision about volunteer missions.
We have many families going this year. Moms and daughters, sons and Moms, Dads and daughters, sisters, etc. I thought it important to encourage the parents that are going with their children. What a great example they are providing for their children and what a legacy they are creating in their family history.
… The training was very beneficial and will probably do it every other year. I likely can do what Mike talked about but I think it gave more credibility coming from an IMB staff person …
Danny “