Of the approximately 3,600 IMB missionaries on the mission field worldwide, only 30 are African American.
I was invited to partner with the International Mission Board to travel to Ethiopia earlier this year on a vision trip with pastors from across the country.
In Ethiopia, cities were assessed, from Addis Ababa, with 5.9 million people, to villages with a few hundred people. Due to missionary safety, some locations cannot be shared. In some parts of Ethiopia, along the Somali and Yemen borders, many locations are 98% Muslim.
‘Huge strides’
IMB missionaries are making huge strides in bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims. Using specific skills learned in an area outside of ministry, opportunities often arise to present the gospel. Muslims are hearing the gospel and accepting Jesus Christ.
On each of my mission trips to Africa over the past six months, I’ve heard Africans say they love the brothers and sisters who come from America to bring the gospel. Yet the epiphany was hearing how excited they are to see people who look like them presenting the gospel. One person said, seeing black brothers and sisters traveling to the Motherland to teach makes them feel so special.
Jeremy Westbrook, executive director of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, said, “What a joy it is to partner with the IMB in helping create pipelines to help prepare and send future missionaries from our own mission field right here in the Buckeye State.”
Five-year commitment
One of the biggest highlights of the mission trip was seeing a husband whose small, two-room home, inside of a barn, is his payment for taking care of the farm animals. This man rejected the gospel for a very long time. After two other men and I ministered to him, in front of his wife and two children, he accepted Jesus Christ.
The SCBO is committed to sending teams of Ohio African American pastors to mission fields over the next five years. The hope is that Ohio will help increase the number of African Americans who become missionaries.
Quintell Hill, IMB’s Black and multiethnic network strategist, said he hopes other states will join Ohio’s commitment to see more African Americans serving with the IMB. “More state leaders and pastors from U.S. churches are seeing how God is at work and that all churches must be a part of it. My prayer and vision is to see more churches dedicating themselves to sending missionaries to all nations.”
