get plugged in to missions


HOW TO IN NORTH AMERICA By Aaron Coe A 9 Fall 2012 • onmission.com


few months back I was talking with a Texas pastor about his church’s plans to get more involved in church planting.


Accustomed to denominational leadership trying to direct the church’s mission work, he expected the North American Mission Board to tell the church where it should go. That’s when I fl ipped the discussion on him. “Where is God telling you to go?” I asked. He told me about a church planter


in New York City that the church had been talking about partnering with. “Great! How can we come alongside you and help you start this church in New York City?” I asked. He was pleased to know he was in


the driver’s seat when it came to his church’s missions strategy. In the last year and a half since we debuted Send North America at NAMB, we’ve heard similar responses from Southern Baptists all across the convention. We’re connecting Southern Baptists to missions opportuni- ties—like church planting—and getting out of the way to let them serve Jesus according to the missions strategies of the churches on the fi eld.


I believe these changes are leading


to a renewed excitement about North American missions among Southern Bap- tists—and to greater involvement. Take church planting for example. The number of new church plants (with new SBC ID numbers) rose by 27 percent to 990 in 2011. Our goal at NAMB is to see a net gain of 5,000 new churches added to the convention by 2022. Considering close to 900 Southern Baptist churches die each year, we’re not there yet—but we’re get- ting closer. Our Mobilize Me process makes it much easier for Southern Baptist churches to get involved in North American missions endeavors like


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