JOIN US
If you are an SBC organization, we invite you to join us. The Great Commission given after Christ’s resurrection encourages the proclamation of the gospel and the creation of new disciples to carry on the work God has already put in motion (Matthew 28:19-20). Believers are called individually, not to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but to faithfully bear witness to His work in the world until His return (2 Timothy 1:6-9). While we must continue to go overseas, we should not miss the opportunities the Father is giving us to reach the nations right next door living among us here in North America. We are compelled by Christ to love and share the good news to immigrants, refugees, and international students. As they come to know Christ, they too will share the gospel where we’ve not been able to go, literally becoming gateways for spreading the gospel into their homelands (Acts 17:26-27).
A great opportunity exists to cast vision, mobilize, and equip North American churches to not only engage people groups globally, but also fulfill the core missionary tasks among diaspora people groups who reside in our own neighborhoods.
This agreement describes the heart of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) organizations listed here, who intend to collaborate and work together to assist Southern Baptist churches. These SBC organizations seek to partner together to equip Southern Baptist churches in their awareness, understanding, and engagement of diaspora peoples as they embrace their responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission both locally and globally.
Objectives:
- Increase awareness among churches, pastors, and students of the many diaspora people groups represented in North
America, and how reaching them relates to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. - Provide mapping and cultural immersion resources to help discover where people groups are located.
- Facilitate a website where resources can be easily identified by Southern Baptists. Note: each SBC organization will
maintain their own resources and identity. - Build and leverage networks for peer learning and sharing of best practices among those who serve diaspora people
groups. - Encourage churches engaging people groups globally to engage locally, and those engaging locally to engage the same
people group globally. - Encourage missionary sending pipelines to engage diaspora people groups as part of their training.
- Provide resources to help churches, pastors, and students to communicate, resource, and network.
- Encourage education of seminary students in diaspora missiology.
- Contribute articles on diaspora missions to various organizations for publication.
- Encourage all churches to go beyond their own people group in their outreach efforts.
- Leverage partnerships to connect SBC churches and field partners for maximum Kingdom impact.
Statement of Guiding Principles for the Collective
In support of the vision and objectives, the SBC organizations will work under the following guiding principles:
- Participants will create and maintain their own diaspora resources and make them available on a central website so all
Southern Baptists may have easy access. - Participants and/or their representatives will meet virtually once a quarter for updates and collaboration and in person
once a year. - Participants will collaborate on resources, networks, and trainings.
- Participants desire to model a cooperative spirit of serving Southern Baptists to reach diaspora people groups, both
locally and globally. - Participants will keep the six components of The Core Missionary Task (entry, evangelism, discipleship, heathy church
formation, leadership development, exit to partnership) paramount as Southern Baptists develop strategies to reach out to
diaspora people groups. - Participants will seek to facilitate leadership at all levels reflective of the diversity of Southern Baptists.
- Participants will be guided by Scripture and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
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