SBTC churches are mobilizing to locations where the gospel is desperately needed

Holly Springs Baptist Church Lead Pastor Clint Williams was among the pastors and church leaders who traveled overseas in May as part of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Reach Europe vision trip. 

When Williams got home and told his congregation what he saw, the missions-minded church in Nacogdoches decided to send a group back. It took less than 24 hours for the trip to fill up. 

“Our church was very eager to go,” Williams said.

Holly Springs served in Hungary, one of the countries included in the Reach Europe ministry partnership between the SBTC and the International Mission Board. The initiative’s goal is to reverse the staggering trend of lostness in Western Europe, which has been described as one of the most lost places in the world. Only 1.1% of Europe’s residents are evangelical, and there is no population segment that is 2% reached. By the IMB’s standards, that makes all of Europe an unreached continent.

As of November, several SBTC churches were preparing to mobilize to locations across the continent to serve IMB partners in locations including Denmark, England, France, Greece, Romania, and Slovenia. 

The SBTC has developed similar ministry partnerships closer to home in Puerto Rico and Nevada—one of the fastest-growing states in America. In those locations, the goal is to strengthen existing Southern Baptist churches, plant new ones, and help raise up a new generation of pastors and leaders to reach the lost. 

“Through these partnerships that have been curated by the SBTC, we’re able to connect our churches to missions opportunities for the purpose of developing long-term relationships that offer maximum gospel impact,” said Colin Rayburn, SBTC Missional Ministries associate. “As we continue to learn more about the specific needs, desires, and abilities of our churches, we’ll be able to fine-tune these partnerships in ways that maximize every SBTC church’s ability to engage missionally.”

During their October trip, Holly Springs worked with rural Hungarian churches to do outreach in a unique way—taking family photos and providing framed prints for people in impoverished villages who might not otherwise have such a luxury. Later, the Texas group had a similar opportunity for a group of elementary school children.

Before heading home, the team had one last chance to leave a taste of Texas with their hosts. Holly Springs hosted a barbecue featuring pulled pork, beans, coleslaw, and southern gospel music played against a backdrop of Texas flag décor. As the Holly Springs team sang hymns such as “I’ll Fly Away” and “Amazing Grace,”  Williams would occasionally stop to explain the biblical principles contained in the lyrics. 

“Just loving on these folks, it was very good,” Williams said. “It connected with a lot of people.”

— Jayson larson