Lottie Moon’s home church hosted the International Mission Board’s Sept. 25 Sending Celebration. Rob Pochek, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Park Street Charlottesville, Virginia, told the 57 newly appointed missionaries, their families and friends that he couldn’t think of a more appropriate place to send them off to the nations than the place Lottie Moon first heeded God’s calling on her life.
“On Dec. 21, 1858, a student came to a revival service here. She was determined to heckle,” Pochek said. “Once she heard the gospel, the Holy Spirit did His work, and the woman you know as Lottie Moon was saved and baptized the next day.”
RELATED: For more stories on international missions, click here.
Paul Chitwood, IMB president, reminded the more than 500 people in attendance of the young woman who so many years ago rallied Southern Baptists to join together in their giving to support more missionaries, resulting in an offering for international missions named in her honor. She also pleaded with churches to send their young men and women because people were dying without hearing the gospel.
“It’s incredible to think how many years later, God is still using that legacy,” Chitwood said. “It’s a charge to our new missionaries tonight.”
Invested in lives
For many of the new missionaries, recognizing Lottie’s home church is symbolic for where missions began for them, at home. Whether it was talking around the dinner table with parents about “who tells people in far-off lands about Jesus” or working side-by-side with immigrants in a job, God used “home” to prepare their hearts and minds for the Great Pursuit of taking the gospel to the nations. They recounted how church members invested in their lives to help grow and hone the skills and heart they will need for this next step of their journey.
A large Central Asian population in Virginia helped prepare Joe and Laura Pantaleo for their new roles as IMB missionaries in Malta. Laura felt called to work in Central Asia as a single, but God closed the door so she could meet and marry Joe. In their community, she found God brought Central Asia to her. The area is home to one of the largest Central Asian populations in the United States.
“I was able to connect with women and build friendships,” she said. “Every week Joe and I went to the home of one family and were able to share the entirety of the gospel.”
To read full story, click here.
The next Sending Celebration will be Nov. 10 at New Vision Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Sue Sprenkle and originally published by the International Mission Board.
