International Mission Board appoints 36

IMB photo by Steve Evans

Flags representing the nations signal the start of an appointment service Jan. 30 at Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville. Thirty-six new missionaries will join more than 5,300 Southern Baptist workers currently serving around the globe through the International Mission Board.

GAINESVILLE (BP)—John and Elizabeth Kea have learned to never say never.

The Keas were among 36 new missionaries appointed by the International Mission Board Jan. 30 at Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville.

When the couple was first called to the mission field, they had no idea where they would go. However, they knew where they didn't want to go. "We said we'd go anywhere except for Western Europe," John said. "They have heard the Gospel and rejected it."

IMB photo by Bill Bangham

Gary Crawford, pastor at Westside where over 2,000 witnessed a missionary appointment service.

Still, thoughts of going to Europe persisted. After talking it over with a seasoned missionary, the couple knew their calling was clear.

"The Lord asked, 'Who am I going to send?'" Elizabeth said. "And we said, 'Send us.'"

"And where's He sending us? Western Europe," John added, with a laugh. "We'll ... serve in Belgium where less than one percent of the people know Jesus."

Last year, for the first time in IMB history, more than 600,000 people were baptized, said Gordon Fort, the IMB's vice president for overseas operations. And doors began opening for more than 100 people groups who had never been given the chance to hear the Gospel.

"We have an obligation," Fort said. "We have a debt to pay to those who have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ."

The Keas are not alone in their heart for missions. All 36 missionaries shared how God has called them to the field. Among their testimonies:

"In 1979, while working in a refugee camp on the border of Asia, I realized that God had linked my life with the lives of these refugees," said Bill, whose real name cannot be used for security reasons. It was at this refugee camp that Bill met his future wife Nancy. She heard the Gospel for the first time while at the camp. Soon after accepting Christ, she knew she wanted to serve the Lord for the rest of her life.

Bill and Nancy are now headed back to the same country where they met to share the love of Jesus Christ with others.

• Anthony Gillen remembers a time when he didn't want anything to get in the way of his career plans—especially missions.

"As a young, successful entrepreneur, I wasn't going into missions," said Gillen, who had started two businesses and was active in his church's youth ministry. "I had my own plans."

But God had plans as well.

"It was while we were watching the movie 'End of the Spear' that God got our attention," Gillen's wife DeNiel said.

"He humbled us. [God] said, 'If you won't go, who will go?'"

The couple will serve in the Dominican Republic.

• Kevin Howard remembers staring down at a cooked dog paw in his soup bowl while serving as a short-term missionary in Asia.

"Was it worth the cost to share Christ?" he thought.

It was then that God made two things extremely clear to Howard: yes, the cost is worth it and, yes, he could handle eating unusual foods.

"Now we get to train West African pastors and their wives in Togo," said Howard, who will work alongside his wife Denice.

"Are there sacrifices? Yes. Are they worth it? For the glory of Christ, yes."

Gary Crawford, pastor of Westside Baptist, and a former IMB trustee, welcomed those participating in the appointment service and said he was anticipating a great evening ahead—and two more days of focus on missons during a regional conference in the days following.

"It makes me grateful to be a Southern Baptist and grateful to have a personal heritage with the International Mission Board," Crawford said. "We're expecting God to work in a special way."

IMB photo by Steve Evans

Newly appointed missionaries Kyle and Christine Faircloth, from First Baptist Church in Royal Palm Beach, will serve in the Pacific Rim.

John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, said he was thankful people cared enough about him to follow the Great Commission and tell the story of Jesus.

In praying for the new missionaries, he asked God to "bless them, bless their parents, and their other family members—still their hearts—that you do, in fact, take care of the children."

Wayne Harvey, director of missions for the Santa Fe River Baptist Association, read Scripture and prayed for the new missionaries as well.

Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, challenged the audience to embrace the struggles and difficulties that come with taking the Gospel to a lost world.

Sharing from Luke 24, Rankin talked about the disciples on the road to Emmaus after Christ's crucifixion. They became blinded by their own distress and didn't realize until later that Christ was walking with them.

There are many believers who can't see past their own agenda and struggles, Rankin noted.

"We're blind to the needs of a lost world that has compelled these to give up their lives to go and share the Gospel," he said. "We don't see the world as God sees it. It's not just a world of poverty ... and suffering refugees. It's a world living in darkness."

But it's not too late, Rankin added.

"That's the task that we are sending you out with tonight," he said. "That the eyes of a lost world would be open to see our Lord Jesus Christ.

"The mission task to breach that barrier cross-culturally is one of spiritual warfare in setting them free from Satan's bond, delivering them from darkness and opening their eyes to the truth."

Among the 36 missionaries appointed were three natives of south Florida, one who cannot be named for security reasons.

Kyle Faircloth, 30, was appointed to serve as a strategy coordinator in the Pacific Rim. He is a 1999 graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University and 2006 graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. He received the M.Div. and MAIS degrees in Dec. 2007 from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest N.C. The Homestead native has served with Grace Mission in West Palm Beach, Wycliffe Bible Translators in Orlando, and with the IMB since 2004.

His wife, Christine, is a graduate of Palm Beach Community College and University of Central Florida in nursing. She will serve in community and home outreach. She and Kyle have two preschoolers, Micah and Kyla. The family's home church is First Baptist Church in Royal Palm Beach.

[FBW contributed to this report.]

IMB photo by Steve Evans

John Sullivan, executive directortreasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, speaks to new missionaries before praying for them at a Jan. 31 appointment service in Gainesville.