CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (BP) — Lottie Moon’s home church hosted the International Mission Board’s (IMB) Sept. 25 Sending Celebration. Rob Pochek, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Park Street in Charlottesville, told the 57 newly appointed missionaries, their families and friends that he couldn’t think of a more appropriate place to send them off to the nations than the place Lottie Moon first heeded God’s calling on her life.

“On Dec. 21, 1858, a student came to a revival service here. She was determined to heckle,” Pochek said. “Once she heard the gospel, the Holy Spirit did His work, and the woman you know as Lottie Moon was saved and baptized the next day.”

Paul Chitwood, IMB president, reminded the more than 500 people in attendance of the young woman who so many years ago rallied Southern Baptists to join together in their giving to support more missionaries, resulting in an offering for international missions named in her honor. She also pleaded with churches to send their young men and women because people were dying without hearing the gospel.

“It’s incredible to think how many years later, God is still using that legacy,” Chitwood said. “It’s a charge to our new missionaries tonight.”

For many of the new missionaries, recognizing Lottie’s home church is symbolic for where missions began for them, at home. Whether it was talking around the dinner table with parents about “who tells people in far-off lands about Jesus” or working side by side with immigrants in a job, God used “home” to prepare their hearts and minds for the Great Pursuit of taking the gospel to the nations. They recounted how church members invested in their lives to help grow and hone the skills and heart they will need for this next step of their journey.

A large Central Asian population in Virginia helped prepare Joe and Laura Pantaleo for their new roles as IMB missionaries in Malta. Laura felt called to work in Central Asia as a single, but God closed the door so she could meet and marry Joe. In their community, she found God brought Central Asia to her. The area is home to one of the largest Central Asian populations in the United States.

“I was able to connect with women and build friendships,” she said. “Every week Joe and I went to the home of one family and were able to share the entirety of the gospel.”

When their two sons desired to tell others around the world about Jesus, they knew the timing was finally right to pack up their belongings and move to Malta. Joe took his church’s youth group from Fincastle (Va.) Baptist Church to this country, and his heart broke for the people who did not know Jesus as their personal Savior.

A child also helped solidify a calling to missions for Ben and Hope Minter. The couple spent a few months in Colombia as part of the adoption process for their daughter. As they learned to be a family in this international setting, Ben joked that God could send them to live there, and he’d be fine with it.

At the time, international missions wasn’t even on the table for the young couple. However, as Hope shared the gospel story over and over with her new daughter in Spanish, she had a thought.

“God did not bless me with two languages so I could only speak with her,” she said. “He did it so I can also share the gospel with a greater number of people.”

The family looked out over Bogota, Colombia, from the window of the guest house and wondered how many lost people were out there. Ben admitted with a smile that he stopped joking about “staying” because all he could think about was, “How can we share the gospel?” Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro, N.C., will send this family of five to Colombia.

Finding a way to share the gospel is one thing Clint Pressley, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) president and senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., said made the 57 on stage stand out. He noted how they all spoke with passion about the places they will go and an urgency that the spiritually lost need an opportunity to hear the Good News.

Pressley reminded the new missionaries that their home churches and the Southern Baptist Convention will be there to support them in this endeavor.

“Think about the beautiful gospel that’s been put in your heart from hundreds of churches just like this one we stand in tonight,” he said. “We are sending missionaries with knowledge and who feel a sense of urgency to share with those who have not heard the gospel. Go, knowing that you got people back here, at home, who will be supporting you.”

The next Sending Celebration will be Nov. 10 at New Vision Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Sue Sprenkle writes for the IMB.)