International Mission Board

From Missiopedia

USA

Richmond, VA

http://www.imb.org

Begun:
Previous names: SBC Foreign Mission Board

[edit] History

The Southern Baptist Convention was formed in 1845 mainly to create two mission boards--the Foreign Mission Board and the Domestic Mission Board (now North American Mission Board). This was precipitated by controversy with northern Baptists over appointing slave owners as missionaries. The Foreign Mission Board, in Richmond, Va., held its first commissioning service in 1846. Since then more than 15,000 missionaries have been appointed, a third of them still serving today.

After Southern Baptists assumed support for some missionaries in China, the denomination’s missionary efforts grew slowly. The Civil War and the South’s agrarian economy made support difficult, and the board often was hampered by debt between 1861 and 1943. Significant growth in the board’s overseas work did not occur until after World War II.

Empowered by the support of the (IMB) Cooperative Program, founded in 1925, and an enlarged worldview, Southern Baptists answered the call, reaching 1,000 missionaries in 1955. Under the 25-year leadership of Baker James Cauthen, global expansion continued, reaching 3,000-plus missionaries in 94 countries by 1980.

Other initiatives brought the Missionary Associate Program in 1961 for those not qualified for career appointment. The Journeyman Program, for young college graduates, was begun in 1965 and later expanded into the International Service Corps.

In 1976 Bold Mission Thrust was begun as a Southern Baptist effort to evangelize the world by A.D. 2000. From 1981 to 1992, Keith Parks led the IMB to adopt new, innovative strategies to reach restricted nations and unreached peoples.

The number of IMB volunteers has soared, topping 30,000 in 2000.

How has God used these efforts to plant with passion? In 2004, IMB workers and their Baptist partners overseas reported a record 607,132 baptisms and 99,495 overseas churches. Church membership overseas in 2004 was a record 7.4 million.