June 17, 2002

Messengers see tangible results of last year's prayers
___By Jennifer Bryant
___Arkansas Baptist
___ST. LOUIS--Messengers to this year's Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting saw visible results of prayers they offered at last year's meeting in New Orleans.
___ During the report of the International Mission Board, President Jerry Rankin reminded messengers that last year he had asked them to pray for a pastor in China who had been wrongly imprisoned. The New Orleans convention implored God for the release of Pastor Yun.
___ Soon after last year's annual meeting, the pastor was "miraculously released," Rankin said this year. And then he introduced the pastor, who addressed messengers via video and then in person.
___ Yun reported he had been beaten and treated unfairly but praised God for his release. He then led messengers in prayer, speaking in his native tongue.
___ SBC President James Merritt stepped to the podium and asked Yun's interpreter to come forward. He told Yun that Southern Baptists "salute you as a soldier of the cross. You are a brother in the Lord, and we love you."
___ The crowd erupted in applause while Yun exclaimed, "Glory to God" and "Hallelujah."
___ Rankin reported the IMB has 5,284 Southern Baptist missionaries stationed around the world. "God is indeed empowering Southern Baptists and calling us to obedience," he said.
___ More than 1,100 new missionaries were dispersed all over the world in the last year, and 34,000 Southern Baptists participated in overseas missions, he added.
___ Rankin presented Merritt with a crystal globe and praised Merritt for honoring his promise to visit all 15 regions of the world during his two-year presidency.
___ "I saw that missionaries are making incredible sacrifices," Merritt replied. "They have incredible joy and passion. I saw God at work where I didn't even know God was at."
___ When Rankin opened the floor for questions, John Pettigrew of Edgefield Baptist Church in Edgefield, S.C., asked why missionaries are required to sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.
___ Rankin replied that missionaries always have been accountable to the convention. "They have always been asked to affirm the statement. We felt it necessary to let Southern Baptists know missionaries are in line" with SBC beliefs.
___ Rankin said "no missionary, as of yet, has been terminated" because of failure to sign the affirmation. "Some have left or retired."
___ Tommy Hamm of Huddell Baptist Church of Huddell, Texas, asked Rankin if doctrinal problems were not being detected in the rigorous missionary screening process, making affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message necessary. Rankin insisted there were "no problems." However, "to make sure there were no questions, we felt we could give assurance" to all Southern Baptists by having missionaries sign the statement, he added.
___ Bob Casey, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church of Gainesville, Fla., asked what Rankin's position was regarding obtaining the Lottie Moon Offering trademark and regarding the IMB's association with Woman's Missionary Union.
___ Rankin said an agreement was made in 1994 between the IMB and WMU. WMU is the primary supporter of the offering and give all receipts to the IMB.
___ During Rankin's report, he interviewed several people who are actively involved in sharing the gospel message around the world. "God calls us to go to the powerless," he said. "It's a glorious calling and an awesome task and desperately needed to a lost and dying community.
___

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