Paul Chitwood, IMB president, greets a group of fifth and sixth graders touring the IMB headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.

Staff of the International Mission Board showed their enthusiasm while hosting a group of fifth and sixth graders from Southern Hills Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The children visited the IMB headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, as a reward for completing eight mission projects during the 2020-2021 school year. The eight projects included interviewing a missionary, writing a report on a country, writing a book report on a missionary biography and learning key phrases in another language. Southern Hills paid for each child’s travel, which also included a trip to the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., once the children completed all eight projects.

During their tour of the IMB headquarters, a group of fifth and sixth graders from Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma pause to look through Every Nation, Tribe, People and Language, IMB’s commemorative coffee table book.

A group of fifth and sixth graders from Oklahoma stop by the studio on their tour of the IMB headquarters.

While on a tour of the IMB headquarters, Kaleb Reyes, a student from Southern Hills Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, looks at a photo in the IMB archives.

Kaleb Reyes, one of the children who toured the building, shared why he thinks the IMB is important.

“I think the IMB is important because it can help a lot of people who want to do missions but they do not have the resources to.”

Addilyn Wright added, “There’s a lot of people out there [who don’t know Jesus] and you don’t want to keep Jesus all to yourself. You want to share Jesus with everyone so they can know him.”

Ann Lovell, former IMB missionary and current internal communications director for IMB, poses with a group of kids from Southern Hills Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Lovell wrote a missionary biography on Dr. Bill Wallace.

As the children toured the IMB building with their parents, the missions’ pastor and the children’s pastor from Southern Hills, they learned about the different departments at the IMB and the roles they play in supporting missionaries and continuing gospel advancement. The fifth and sixth graders were able to meet Paul Chitwood, IMB president, and other IMB staff who answered their questions about missions.

During a tour of the IMB headquarters, Allison Wiles, a student from Southern Hills Baptist Church, stops to look at IMB photos.

Jacob Steward, children’s pastor of Southern Hills, explained why Southern Hills emphasizes missions at an early age.

“It’s really important for kids to learn about missions because a lot of their decisions are made when they’re kids,” he said. “We want to prepare them from the time they are young to go out into the world and share Jesus with people.”

Want to visit the IMB headquarters? Email info@imb.org to learn more!