When the ends of the earth move in next door, differences in language, religion, customs, and culture can quickly build walls between people who have the gospel and people who need to hear it. Four leaders join in a special roundtable discussion about the cultural idols we all have, why the church seems to be last to change, and how to be a good neighbor. Read…
Mission
Ill. missions experience ignites a fire for the gospel at home
It took a trip to Bangladesh to remind Gail Faulkner of what she’d lost by living for 10 years in the comfort of the United States. “Without realizing it, I had become comfortable and apathetic,” said the former IMB missionary, who served with her husband, Chip, in South America and the Caribbean before moving to Bethalto, where he pastors First Baptist Church. Read…
Teens serve new churches
In July, IBSA and Judson University held the third-annual ChicaGO Week, a mission experience for students that partners them with leaders planting new churches in the city and its suburbs. Being a pastor of a yet-to-be established or newly-established church is a different beast, said Danny Walls, “and it’s a cool thing to get to hang out and hear their heart and their vision and see what God’s doing through them. It’s pretty awesome.” Read…
Summer sends Illinois mission teams to serve the global church
Each year, thousands of missions volunteers from Illinois go somewhere – near or far – to intentionally share the gospel and serve with fellow Christians. This summer, they were in Brazil, Honduras, Italy, and Hungary, and many places in between. Read…
Q&A: Sandy Wisdom-Martin elected to lead National WMU
The news spread quickly among Illinois Southern Baptists that one of their own was named to serve as executive director/treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union. Sandy Wisdom-Martin, an Illinois native who grew up near the small town of Marissa, was unanimously elected by the WMU executive board at a special-called meeting July 29-30 in Birmingham, Ala. Read…