One of the best seasons of my life was last summer when I had the opportunity to serve alongside a team of missionaries in Seville, Spain with the International Mission Board. With this team and three fellow interns, I had the best summer I have ever had. I was fortunate to learn first-hand from missionaries on the foreign field. Seeing their methods of sharing the Gospel with the people of Seville was very encouraging. Along with evangelism, we planned events like block parties and a youth retreat. Learning from the interns I served with, as well as the long-term team, was a blessing from God.
Today’s blog features someone special: Paul Chitwood, the President of the International Mission Board. I have asked him to share his story, his passion for missions, and some of the exciting things happening at the IMB.
So, I’ll let Paul take it away…
"I first want to thank Cage for his passion and fervor for missions! It is always exciting to see young people who are passionate about the Great Commission, and to hear that he served on a short term trip with one of our teams in Spain. Cage asked me if I would be willing to share my story, my passion for missions, and what is going on at the IMB. My name is Paul Chitwood, and I have the great honor to serve at the International Mission Board.
My story starts with two men in a church parking lot who were headed out to do weekly home visits to share about Jesus with the local community. On that night, they visited a single father and his three young sons. These men at the door shared about Jesus and invited the father to church. My father accepted that invitation and, that next Sunday, took us to church. As time passed, my older brother started asking questions about Jesus and my father asked our pastor to come for a visit. Little did our pastor know that he would get three for one that night, as my brothers and I all gave our lives to the Lord. My story is like the story of many in that faithful people took the Lord’s command to be His witness seriously, and it changed my life.
My passion and heart for missions stems from the reality of my own sin and God’s saving mercy upon my life, and how the Lord has guided me each step of the way in my journey. At the International Mission Board, we gather around the question: what is the world’s greatest problem? In our world today we could name quite a list of overwhelming problems, whether it be war, hunger, abortion, human trafficking, and the list could go on and on. Yet, the world’s greatest problem can be summed up in one word: lostness.
Spiritual lostness is the only problem that lasts beyond this life and the only problem that is everyone’s problem. It is an eternal and universal problem.
Every single day people are dying without Jesus. At the IMB our researchers estimate that over 170,000 people will die today without Christ. Read that number again. People will die today and spend an eternity apart from Christ. This realization should press us to live out the Great Commission with a sense of urgency, because, in the gospel, we have the solution to the world’s greatest problem. This is why the IMB exists, to get the gospel to those who have yet to hear. The biblical model we embrace is to take the gospel to the nations through the presence of missionaries.
One of the initiatives at the IMB I am excited about right now is Project 3000. Through Project 3000, IMB will send out 300 Missionary Explorers over 5 years, each assigned to scout out 10 of the remaining 3,072 unengaged, unreached people groups. The goal is for these unengaged, unreached people groups to be found and known. Missionary Explorers will find out where they live, learn about their culture, discern their literacy, share the gospel, develop ministry strategies, become prayer warriors for these groups, and seek out national partners to help. Explorers will play a key part of entry into the missionary task, cultivating gospel access among the least reached. We need young, adventurous, passionate people to go to the nations to help solve the world’s greatest problem.
Here is the link for Project 3000: https://www.imb.org/missionary-explorer/. I would invite anyone interested to reach out to our team at the IMB to help you find out how you can be a part of the work to reach the nations. Every believer has a story of how they came to know the Lord. The question we have to ask ourselves as Christ followers is how does God desire use our story to help share the hope and love of Christ with others? Might we be found ready to go our neighborhood and to the nations to tell the good news!"
I encourage anyone who feels led to spend time in prayer about how they can help fulfill the Great Commission, whether by giving financially, going on a trip, or everything in between. Being on mission does not necessarily mean going on an overseas trip; mission opportunities are all around us! This is something I have to remind myself of daily. The people here in my own city need the Gospel of Jesus Christ just as much as those across the world. As Jim Elliot once said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Comments