FOREIGN BOARD REPORTS RECORD GAINS IN 1995

by   Marty Croll                                                                                                                                                Vol. IX, No. 3, March 1996

Proclaiming the gospel and ministering in the name of Christ, Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board missionaries and their partners overseas experienced record gains in 1995.

A record 2,612 newly constituted churches represented a 21 percent jump from 1994 and contributed to a record 39,073 partner churches. A significant number of new churches (367) and baptisms (6,548) were reported among people groups considered inaccessible to traditional mission work.

For the first time in history, total membership among affiliates overseas topped the 4 million mark -- to 4.11 million. And the year's 287,806 baptisms, the second-highest number in history behind last year's 302,132, amounted to the equivalent of a Pentecost harvest every four days. Mission strategists say it likely represents more than 1 million professions of faith.

The most telling story about baptisms, however, was the 14-to-1 member-to-baptism ratio among overseas partners, contrasting sharply with the 40-to-1 ratio among Southern Baptists in the United States.

The increase in the number of new churches in 1995, from 2,162 in 1994, and the continuing high number of baptisms "reflect the work of the Holy Spirit through the witness of missionaries, volunteers and national co-workers," said board President Jerry Rankin.

Foreign Mission Board leaders say they see results overseas as affirmation of the very gospel missionaries preach, that signs follow those who believe and proclaim Jesus Christ. They consider the record showing a result of discovering where God is moving in the world, and rolling up their sleeves to go to work beside Him.

"We are filled with praise that God has allowed us to participate in what He is doing around the world in such an amazing way," Rankin said. "It's especially thrilling to see the level of response among previously unreached people groups who never before had access to the gospel."

Missionaries and their partners started working among 41 new people groups in 1995, many of them in "The Last Frontier," or "World A." Mission strategists define World A as the 2,466 cultures that have never been exposed to the name of Jesus Christ or seen the Bible translated into their languages. They have been locked behind political, religious, and cultural boundaries.

"It's amazing," said Avery Willis, the board's senior vice president for overseas operations. "We're seeing that once we take the gospel into these darkened places where it's never gone, people are responding. We never expected it to happen this quickly."

One country, with only 65 known believers a few years ago, now has an estimated 200,000 Christians.

Church growth surveys in recent years have helped missionaries zero in on lost people in all parts of the world. The clearer focus played a role in increasing the number of new churches, said evangelism and church growth analyst Jim Slack, who compiled the annual report. Another contributing factor was the board's dual focus on the Last Frontier and traditional harvest fields.

"The Last Frontier changes shape every year as lives yield to the movement of the Holy Spirit and advancement of Christ's kingdom," said Bill Bullington, the board's vice president for overseas services. "The body of Christ is growing and appearing in places among peoples we might have thought unlikely or even impossible."

The total number of churches on the field increased by 6.65 percent in 1995, from 36,638 in 1994. At that growth rate, the total will double in 10 years, Slack said.

Growth was strong in Eastern Europe, which has benefitted in recent years from the fall of communism. In church starting, Romania led Southern Baptists' overseas affiliates with 313 new churches. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Baptist Union there has started at least one church every week.

In Russia, 130 new churches and 6,693 baptisms were reported. Ukraine, formerly a Soviet republic, reported 9,119 baptisms in 1995.

Brazil, a populous, mature mission field, led other countries in the total number of baptisms, with 71,993. Kenya reported 23,078, Nigeria 20,000, South Korea 16,050.

The tiny southeastern African nation of Malawi produced 15,857 baptisms, or one for every seven members, about twice as many per member as the worldwide average in 1995.

Slack singled out discipleship among other notable gains in 1995. A heightened sensitivity to members "leaving out the back door" contributed to a 74 percent increase in discipleship efforts, he said.

Bible teaching ministries increased by more than 11 percent. Record growth also occurred in Vacation Bible School enrollment, Woman's Missionary Union and Brotherhood enrollment, literacy training, and youth ministries.

Still another gain came in the appointment of missionaries by overseas affiliates. Home missionaries were up by 44 percent and foreign missionary numbers increased by 87 percent. [BP]