Thoughts from Reggie Hundley, Executive Director of Mission Services:
Yesterday, February 24, 2016, the disturbing article below was written by Adelle M. Banks on the Religious News Service website. The article was not surprising, but it was and is disturbing. I shared a previous article warning these steps were inevitable some months ago with students at Johnson University studying in their first Missiology course. Still, these are difficult times in the world, and missionaries and ministries are not exempt from their consequences.
“One out of five Southern Baptist missionaries overseas — or nearly 1,000 total — have volunteered to leave their posts to help the denomination’s mission board deal with its financial straits. That’s in addition to the departure of a third of the staff of the International Mission Board, also mostly through a voluntary program.
“‘Obviously, this number exceeds what we needed,’ said its president, David Platt, at a trustee meeting Wednesday (Feb. 24). But he said the departure of 983 missionaries means the mission board will be in improved financial health.
“In August, leaders of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination announced that the board would need to cut up to 800 employees, after spending a total of $210 million more than it had received since 2010..”
Another article, similar in nature, was posted by Global City Mission Initiative on their web site. A family that had served as cross-cultural missionaries in New York City was saying good-bye due to “uncontrollable circumstances.” The real reason was their funding had been reduced without warning, because a major supporting church had an income fall off. The link to their article is here.
We need a renewed commitment to prayer for God’s wisdom and blessing. We need a renewed commitment to world evangelism. May God guide us. These are not isolated events.
