Mission Arlington nurtures, trains next generation of missionaries_80904

Posted: 8/06/04

Mission Arlington nurtures, trains
next generation of missionaries

By Sarah Farris

BGCT Summer Intern

WACO–Mission Arlington's outreach extends far beyond the city limits.

The community ministry's goal is to nurture a new generation of missionaries for worldwide service, Director Jim Burgin said.

“Through Mission Arlington, God is raising up kids to be missionaries,” Burgin told the Texas Leadership Conference, sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union of Texas.

About 90 vocational missionaries were trained at Mission Arlington, he said.

About half serve throughout the United States, and the rest work in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, and one works with an unreached people group.

Every Mission Arlington volunteer who has interviewed with the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board has been appointed, he noted.

In addition, 28,000 people from 26 states have come for a week-long mission immersion experience.

For instance, volunteers from a church in Lexington, Ky., spent a week at Mission Arlington.

When they returned home, they immediately launched a similar ministry to help people in their community, he said.

Burgin grew up on the mission field in South Korea, and his mother, Tillie, founded Mission Arlington.

For 17 years, he pointed out, thousands of people have come through Mission Arlington's doors seeking food, money for bills, clothing, medical aid, crisis intervention, help during the holidays and spiritual aid offered by the urban missionaries.

By meeting the physical needs of the poor in Arlington, the organization gets a chance to share God's love, Burgin explained.

Each week, 254 Mission Arlington-related congregations meet, generally under the leadership of lay pastors.

Many evolved from Bible studies and still meet in the living rooms of apartments.