By Paul Chitwood
President, International Mission Board
Matthew 24:14 records these words of our Lord: “This gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Because Southern Baptists are committed to a foundation built upon the word of God, our International Mission Board embraces a biblical missiology. As a result, the overwhelming majority of resources at the IMB are dedicated to fulfilling the Great Commission of making disciples of all peoples and stewarding the Revelation 7:9 vision of “a great multitude … from every nation … tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
Practically, what does that look like? With regard to our missionary teams, 91% are engaging people groups that fit the definition of “unreached” — less than 2% of their population is evangelical Christian.
With regard to finances, every dollar given directly to the IMB or given through your church and designated to the IMB is used overseas. The work Southern Baptists are doing as they cooperate to send missionaries is getting to the edge of lostness. For now, the vision is yet unfulfilled. More than 7,200 people groups remain unreached and more than 3,100 are yet to be engaged with the gospel.
The word says we have been left here to make disciples of all peoples, be a witness for Jesus to the end of the earth and proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom throughout the world as a testimony to all nations.