South Carolina Baptist Convention President Alex Sands (far left); IMB trustee Marshall Blalock (back to camera); Wes Church, pastor of host church, First Baptist Columbia (far right); and IMB President Paul Chitwood fellowship after the Sending Celebration. IMB Photo
Sangseo and Yun Na Park met and married in Korea, but they both felt God calling them to the nations.
“Once I personally met Jesus, I threw away my goals that I had in the world,” Yun Na shared. “I went to a church conference and while we were praising the Lord with a song called ‘I want to be Your joy,’ my soul started to confess the lyric deeply.”
Peter Yanes, executive director for Asian American relations and mobilization for the SBC Executive Committee (far left), prays with his wife Irene for Sangseo and Yun Na Park during the Sending Celebration. IMB Photo
She continued, “After I came back home, I was watching TV and I saw an African mom holding her child and she looked as if she had no hope. God poured the Father’s heart upon me, and I fell to my knees and prayed. I prayed to God that ‘if You wish, please send me to those who have no hope.’”
The Parks were two of 39 IMB missionaries who participated in the Sending Celebration on Nov. 8, 2021, at First Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina. This Sending Celebration was hosted by the South Carolina Baptist Convention in conjunction with their annual meeting. Missionaries were approved unanimously for appointment in a virtual meeting of IMB’s board of trustees held Nov. 4, 2021.
Sangseo Park is excited to see his call to long-term missions fulfilled through the IMB. He felt called to missions after doing work with architectural projects and urban planning in Southeast Asia. He was deeply moved by the sheer amount of need in the areas where he worked.
Sangseo and Yun Na Park, both originally from Korea, will be moving, with their children to Mexico to plant a church among a specific people group. IMB Photo
The couple moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to attend Southwestern Seminary in 2010 and later to California to attend Gateway Seminary.
In the spring, the Parks, along with their kids, Joshua Young Kwang, Elizabeth Eunhye, Victoria Somang and Eleanor Onyu, will be moving to Mexico as missionaries. They’ll be researching the culture of a specific people group and planting churches.
‘Beautiful feet’ being sent
IMB President Paul Chitwood encouraged attendees from Romans 10:8-15.
IMB President Paul Chitwood brings greetings to the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. The SCBC is celebrating 200 years of Southern Baptist ministry. The IMB’s Nov. 2021 Sending Celebration was hosted in conjunction with their annual meeting. IMB Photo
“There are more lost people alive today than any time in human history,” Chitwood said. “More lost people will die today and enter hell than on any day that has gone before in human history. Unlike the majority of days and ages that have gone before, today we have the capacity to reach almost anyone, anywhere in a matter of days.”
Chitwood acknowledged that over 40% of Southern Baptists’ mission force has been cut since 2008. However, he reminded the congregation that the IMB is dedicated to sending the called to the nations.
“We’re not discharging soldiers,” he said. “We’re calling in reinforcements.”
The magnitude of those yet to be reached is, “why we’re still here. That’s why we’re here tonight. We’re here to send these beautiful feet to take the gospel to the nations,” Chitwood said.
He added, “Thank you for sending them so that they can share, so that the lost can hear, believe, call upon the name of the Lord, and be saved. Might God use us to that end and to His glory until Christ comes for His church.”
Executive Vice President Todd Lafferty led out in prayer for the newly appointed missionaries.
Executive Vice President Todd Lafferty and his wife Susan were appointed as missionaries 30 years ago. IMB Photo
“Tonight, we’ve seen 39 be called out, but as you’ve just heard, we need more. Will you pray for more harvesters to go out into that harvest?”
Tonight’s Sending Celebration was the 30th anniversary of Lafferty and his wife, Susan, being commissioned.
His commissioning, “opened up a fresh vista of opportunity to fulfill the call of God in our life,” Lafferty reflected. Using the word vista, he asked attendees to pray for the missionaries to:
- Have Vision
- Show Integrity
- Withstand in Spiritual battle
- Be Transformed
- And Abide
The evening ended with friends and families of the missionaries gathering around them in prayer.
Significance of cooperative missions
Gary Hollingsworth, SCBC’s executive director, brought greetings to attendees. “This year our
convention is celebrating 200 years and we can’t think of a better way to kick off our meeting than celebrating the sending of our newest Southern Baptist missionaries to the nations,” he said.
The Sending Celebration was held on Nov. 8, 2021, at First Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina. It was hosted by the South Carolina Baptist Convention in conjunction with their annual meeting. IMB Photo
Hollingsworth added, “We are very thankful that we can join together with a coalition of Southern Baptist churches across North America to cooperatively send and support missionaries,” highlighting the importance of cooperative missions.
Each IMB missionary is funded through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® and the Cooperative Program. Through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, Southern
Baptists have given over $5 billion to international missions. Each dollar of the LMCO goes straight to the work the Lord is doing overseas. The Cooperative Program, in addition to funding overseas work of Southern Baptist missionaries, funds the support services in the U.S. for those missions.
God’s ‘worthiness’ being made known in Prague
Samantha Burgess started to consider long-term missions in junior high. Throughout high school and college, God began to shape her calling through short-term missions to Guatemala, Colombia and African deserts.
“The Lord used these trips to broaden my understanding of His desire for the nations to know Him and of His worthiness of being made known,” Burgess shared.
Samantha Burgess, a former Hands On and Macedonia Project missionary, shares her testimony at the Sending Celebration in at First Baptist Church, Columbia, South Carolina. She’ll be going to Prague as a career missionary this spring. IMB Photo
At a conference her freshman year of college, she gave God a “blank check to do with whatever He wills. I came back from that conference intentionally pursuing a path to long-term missions and asking my church to confirm that call in me and to walk with me in it,” she shared.
This blank check led her to serve with the IMB’s Hands On program in Prague for a semester in college, and later with the IMB’s Macedonia Project in the same city.
Burgess will be returning to Prague in the spring, serving with a church planting team in an area of the city with very little evangelical influence.
God’s miracles opening the door to fulfill His mission
Jeff and Lainey Johnson share their testimony at the Sending Celebration in at First Baptist Church, Columbia, South Carolina. Along with their kids, they will be going to Nairobi, Kenya to work in the slums and with refugees. IMB Photo
Both Jeff and Lainey Johnson felt God’s distinct call to missions through short-term trips, including an eight-month volunteer trip to Uganda.
Though the couple knew they were called to missions, they started to question God’s plan when they found out their son, Elijah, was diagnosed with spina bifida.
“When my son was diagnosed with spina bifida we were devastated for so many reasons, and one of those reasons was that we may never get to do international missions again,” Lainey shared.
She continued, “I remember asking the Lord why He put such a strong desire in my heart and my husband’s heart since we were children to end up not being able to go. I am beyond thankful for the Lord’s patience towards me.”
Jeff and Lainey Johnson surrounded by friends, family and South Carolina messengers and attendees during the time of prayer for newly appointed missionaries. IMB Photo
Three days after their son underwent fetal surgery, Lainey turned to Jeff and said, “We can still do missions. The Lord has displayed His hand over and over and He has proven Himself faithful. If He wills it; He can make a way!”
They continued to receive good reports from doctors regarding Elijah’s progress. And God opened doors for them to serve long term with the IMB.
The couple, along with their children, Josias, Arrow and Elijah, will be engaging refugees and underserved communities in Kenya in the spring.