December 4, 2000
EDITORIAL:
'Tis the season for foreign missions
___When was the first time you met a "real-live" missionary?
___I remember my first encounter as if it were last Sunday morning. I was in fourth grade, and this missionary and I saw eye-to-eye. Literally. Guy Key was in the fourth grade too, and he was an "MK," a missionary kid. He visited Perryton, my hometown, during his family's furlough from service in Brazil. Our little Panhandle community has been rich with missionary Keys: Guy's mom and dad, Jerry and Johnnie Key (now retired in Fort Worth), grew up in Perryton but raised their family in Brazil, where they helped train ministers for decades. If memory serves me, Guy's uncle and aunt, Mike and Marsha Key, also were missionaries. Our church, not coincidentally, was Key Heights Baptist, so we felt a special kinship with "our" missionaries in South America. That bond continues. Guy and his wife, Elena, still serve in Brazil through the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.
___Seems like I've run into missionaries wherever I've turned. One of the most memorable was a man who dressed like a "gaucho" (Argentinian for "cowboy") and roped with a bolo one summer at Panfork Baptist Encampment. He talked about how people all over the world needed Christians to tell them about Jesus. That night, I sang "Wherever He Leads, I'll Go" with a new voice. Although the Lord never called me to foreign service, I remember that missionary and mean the words each time I sing that wonderful hymn of commitment.
___Along the way, I've wept as I've listened to missionaries at associational missions conferences, studied and laughed with MK friends at one of our Texas Baptist schools, prepared for ministry alongside soon-to-be missionaries in seminary, worshipped with missionaries on the field through partnership opportunities and River Ministry. And the terrific thing is, I'm not unique. Many thousands of Texas Baptists have had the opportunity to know, work with and love missionaries throughout our lifetimes. Although missionaries spend significant portions of their lives "over there," they are part of our lives back here. We have been marked by the stamp of their commitment.
___For many Baptists, missions has transcended all the divisions that have separated us during the past couple of decades. Missionaries testify that they cooperate wonderfully on the mission field--a coalition of Christian workers supported variously by the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Navigators, Youth With a Mission and other denominations. Of course, they also work particularly closely with national Christians on every field. Faced with the challenge of sharing the gospel with 1.7 billion people who never have heard of Jesus and billions more who cling to other religious beliefs, doctrinal distinctions do not distract.
___And they should not distract Texas Baptists this year. Most of us have learned from childhood to think of missions as we enter the Christmas season. Lottie Moon, a missionary to China and the closest Baptists have to a matron saint, died for the cause of Christ on Christmas Eve 1912 in the harbor at Kobe, Japan. We honor her life--and the lives and ministries of thousands of missionaries who have followed in her footsteps--as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, whom missionaries have proclaimed around the globe. This is the Week of Prayer for International Missions. Very likely, you can attend services at your church and learn about specific missions needs, as well as opportunities and victories in foreign lands. It should be as much a part of your family's Christmas celebration as carols, a Christmas tree and manger scenes.
___Even though Baptists have disagreed on some issues during the past years, our hearts still beat for the cause of Christ, for the mandate of missions. In fact, our commitments have expanded. Texas Baptists will give to one of two missions offerings in coming weeks. The $115 million Lottie Moon Christmas Offering will help to support almost 5,000 International Mission Board missionaries overseas. The $5.5 million Offering for Global Missions will help underwrite ministries of about 200 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionaries.
___These missionaries would tell you the offering is not for them. It is a tool to enable them spread the good news of our Lord Jesus, whose birth we prepare to celebrate. The most important gift you give this Christmas won't go under a tree. It will fill a missions offering envelope.
___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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