Christ-following college students and young adults have a passion to serve, said Easton Vinson who serves as minister to young adults at First Baptist Church of Lafayette, Louisiana.
“They want to feel like they’re making a difference,” Vinson said. “I see that not just in my ministry, but I have friends all over the country who are seeing the same thing in their students.”
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The International Mission Board makes a priority of connecting with NextGen leaders and inspiring students and young adults to take the next step in being involved in missions. Diverse missions opportunities seem to be key for this demographic.
“We want NextGen pathways to make sense for Southern Baptists,” said Andy Pettigrew, who leads the IMB NextGen Mobilization team. This team specializes in guiding youth, college students, young adults and their leaders toward actively participating in the Great Commission.
‘Stairstep approach’
For those eager to take their first steps in missions, the IMB offers a “stairstep approach” tailored to different levels of commitment:
- One-to-three-week trips: A journey often begins with a couple of weeks on the mission field, where participants can serve alongside IMB missionaries around the world.
- Summer missions: As their passion deepens, the next step could be a summer mission trip. Participants immerse themselves in mission work ranging from six to eight weeks in various locations worldwide, including Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
- IMB Missions Residencies: For those who find themselves called to a longer-term commitment, the IMB provides missions residencies. These residencies afford young adults the opportunity to prepare for future roles in missions or ministry while collaborating with IMB missionaries.
- Journeyman or Project 3000: And for those who are particularly called, the IMB offers unparallelled experiences through the Journeyman and Project 3000 programs. As a Journeyman, those under the age of 30 have the chance to serve two years with an international missionary team, diving headfirst into the heart of global missions. With more than 60 years of history, the Journeyman program has provided a pathway for countless young adults to fulfill their call to serve. Project 3000 is a concerted effort to ensure every people group can access the gospel. In the next five years, the IMB plans to send 300 missionary explorers to research every remaining people group with no known gospel presence.
“We continue to see an increase of those who are serving,” Pettigrew said. “I think our effectiveness of reaching the next generation of missionaries is contingent on how we are in serving churches. IMB is not necessarily seeking to reach NextGen. We want to provide pathways that serve churches that are reaching NextGen.”
Besides ongoing service to local churches, the IMB NextGen Mobilization team works with Baptist Collegiate Ministries and other campus programs such as Christian Challenge across the U.S. They have a regular presence at Baptist summer camps and at colleges and seminaries, ensuring that college students have a comprehensive understanding of what the IMB offers.
NextGen recruiters for the IMB are tasked with engaging 500 different individuals every month. Ultimately, as Pettigrew said, the goal is to provide tools that serve churches as they are making disciples in developing people towards missions.
“We have positioned ourselves well and have learned a ton in terms of what students are interested in,” Pettigrew said. “We’re learning when they want to go, how they want to go and where they want to go.”
Collegiate Week
Collegiate Week at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center near Davis, Oklahoma, is one of the largest student events where IMB has a strong presence. Nearly 1,900 students and college ministry leaders from across the U.S. and Canada attended this year’s Collegiate Week, Aug. 3–7.
Prime connection times for IMB at Collegiate Week were in the afternoons. An abundance of students and ministry leaders came every day to the IMB Missions Cabin to find relief from the heat but also to talk with IMB missionaries and staff. They learned about the missions pathways and formed connections to learn about future missions opportunities.
Vinson brought 53 students with him from Lafayette to attend Collegiate Week. He stopped by the IMB Cabin with one of his college students who is planning to start training to be a Journeyman this fall. “He’s going to be one of the first missionaries our church has sent in a while,” Vinson said.
“I think the IMB has the best pathway to get people into ministry and get people overseas,” Vinson continued. “They make connections with full-time missionaries and with other people across the nations. Students get to see and to participate in how the gospel is being presented all over the world.”
This year’s Collegiate Week included a worship service led by IMB staff and missionaries, who stressed the importance of following the Great Commission. During the service, Pettigrew urged attendees to grasp the central role of the gospel in missions. He stressed that participation in the Great Commission requires more than passion. It demands faithful service of equipped and committed disciples in and through their local church.
Sarah Farley-Beall, IMB senior NextGen mobilization strategist, emphasized the importance of IMB being involved with Collegiate Week and connecting with students and college ministry leaders.
“Over half the world, 59%, is lost,” she said. “More importantly, 56% of the world’s population is currently under 30. We live in a young, lost world. Why is it important for IMB to seek out college students? It’s because students reach students. We don’t just want students to go; we need students to go.”
‘True partnership’
Farley-Beall pointed out how Collegiate Week is a demonstration of “a true partnership of Southern Baptists.” State conventions were represented at Collegiate Week, as well as Southern Baptist colleges and seminaries, the North American Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union.
“These students are the cream of the crop of Southern Baptists,” Farley-Beall said. “They are being invested in through all the different layers of our togetherness. The IMB is here to say, ‘We are your missions agency.’”
More information is available about the IMB and missions opportunities for students at imb.org/students.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chris Doyle and originally published by the International Mission Board.
