Missionary appointment, evangelization of South America featured in Gainesville

Photo by Joni B. Hannigan

Florida Baptists share the Gospel with adults while children play on a hilltop porch in a remote area of Brazil down a tributary of the Amazon River. The mission trip was organized by Amazon Vision Ministries.

GAINESVILLE (FBC)—The appointment of 39 international missionaries to serve throughout the world will be the highlight of the 2008 South America Mobilization Summit at Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville Jan. 30-Feb. 1.

The conference will focus on intensifying the growth of the church and new evangelical believers in South America and around the world. The event will be conducted jointly by Westside Baptist Church, the local churches of the Santa Fe River Baptist Association, the Florida Baptist Convention and the International Mission Board (IMB).

The appointment service is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

The conference will offer general sessions on Thursday and Friday, featuring Jerry Rankin, IMB president, and missionary testimonies. A series of break-out seminars led by IMB personnel will follow three tracks: the strategic partnership church, the strategy coordinator church, and the strategy mobilizing church. John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, will speak Thursday evening.

A pastor's forum and networking time will be available during the three-day event. Advocacy meetings, regional displays and a virtual prayer room will be used to help teach mobilization and connect Florida Baptists with the South American mission field.

For the past three years, the Florida Baptist Convention has been connected to South America through the Amazon Vision Ministries partnership. "As Great Commission partners, the evangelization of South America is critical to us as Florida Baptists because of our geographical proximity," said John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention.

"Many of our own Florida Baptists claim South American countries as their homelands. Also, we have a large number of Hispanic and Brazilian churches in our state whose members could be called as laborers for the harvest."

There is a window of opportunity in South America, said Sullivan. "The IMB reports that 690 distinct people groups-over 375 million-make up the 10 countries of the South American Continent. These groups are mostly unevangelized and many are totally unreached. They are open to the Gospel.

"Learning of the need is the first step to fulfilling the Great Commission calling," Sullivan added.

Conference registration opens at 2 p.m. Wed., Jan. 30. Conference events begin with the appointment service and conclude at 3 p.m. Friday. The cost for the conference is $75 per person. For more information, contact Westside Baptist Church at 352-333-7700, ext. 113 or go to www.westsidebaptist.org.