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Another significant way the IBC has engaged in church planting is through the European Baptist Federation’s Indigenous Missionary Project. Daniel Trusiewicz, IMP coordinator, presented this church planting dream to us in 2004 in Aviano, Italy, and challenged us to get involved at some level. We committed to begin sponsoring two missionary church planters in Moldova. In addition, Sam Owens, pastor in Aviano, pledged to lead his church to sponsor several missionaries. From this start, the current number of missionary church planters sponsored through the IBC and its churches is 12. In addition to the two missionaries supported through our convention’s Home Missions account, several IBC churches sponsor church planters in Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Iraq, and Belarus. Sponsoring churches are Kaiserslautern, Aviano, Frankfurt, and Stukeley. I challenge IBC churches to look beyond their local needs and see what an investment in church planting can mean to the Kingdom. Some of our churches can sponsor one or more IMP church planters. I challenge our CDMT to move ahead with a clear vision and strategy for church planting in significant places where God is opening doors and to communicate that to our IBC family so we can pray and plan with you. We need to commit to support in every way the churches that have already started. I challenge our regions to look at possible ways they can support existing and new church planting efforts. It is always a temptation to make the decision between planting and strengthening, but one of the best ways to strengthen our churches is to look beyond ourselves to fields that are “ripe unto harvest.” Strengthening Churches Healthy churches are growing churches. Healthy churches are strong churches. The IBC may be unique among organizations that relate to international churches in its commitment to strengthening churches. Given the diversity of our churches and leaders, our constant turnover, our geographical separation, and the nature of our cooperation together as autonomous churches, I find this to be one of our greatest challenges. We can and should do better, but I trust that we are making progress and improving in our ability to support and strengthen. I have always believed that the real strength of the IBC is the local church. In military terms, the local church is the “tip of the spear” when it comes to advancing the Gospel. Among the most pressing local church needs currently are effective leadership, training for ministry, and help in times of crisis and transition. Sometimes the greatest need is for financial help in a time of crisis, but usually there are other needs to be addressed beyond financial ones. A church that loses its pastor is in a critical situation during the interim time. More than in the “normal” church, this time of transition often creates tremendous turmoil that can threaten an international church’s future. I spend a lot of time every week working with pastoral search committees on one end and with potential pastoral candidates on the other. Interim pastors and intentional interim pastors have been a help this past year in bridging the gap and keeping churches focused on moving ahead. It is never easy for a church to find the leader that best fits their church, but it is rewarding when it happens. I am thankful for our new pastors who have come on board this year and for the interims who have served for varying lengths of time. At our convention-wide meetings, we try to provide encouragement and training that will assist pastors and other leaders in their ministries. At this year’s Annual Convention Meeting, we focused some attention on preaching. I am hopeful that forums like this will provide assistance in our ministries. Our Interlaken seminars always provide training and encouragement not only for the pastor but for all who minister in the local church. Our Women’s, Men’s, Singles’ and Youth Ministry Teams planned conferences this year that sought to provide some training for those involved in leading local church ministries as well as inspiration for people in our churches. The Education Ministry Team is currently seeking to find out the greatest areas of need in our churches and provide resources to meet those needs. We hope in the next months to expand our website so that it becomes a more effective tool in providing resources to help churches with their ministries. We also want to provide avenues of sharing resources between churches. Our partnership with the Baptist General Association of Virginia began last year with the focus of strengthening churches in mind. We hope to set up local and regional training to assist churches and their leaders in their ministries this coming year. Whether it be deacon training, age-level training for teachers, help with small groups, conflict resolution, lay counseling, strategic planning, or other areas of need, we hope to be able to provide help to strengthen churches. We have already seen some of this, and we need to increase it. Sometimes strengthening churches means going to churches in times of conflict or uncertainty. This past year I have met with a number of churches wanting to move ahead but operating in crisis mode. Several situations involved severe conflict between the pastor and other leaders, loss of vision by the church as a result of a focus on urgent needs but failing to focus on essential mission, legal issues related to calling a pastor longterm, and uncertainty after the loss of a pastor. In a few cases, doctrinal issues were involved. In most, personality issues drove the conflict. Some of these churches are now thriving; others still struggle. Through our cooperative efforts financially we strengthen one another. It is through the giving of IBC churches that we are able to assist churches in need and to implement strategies that help churches to grow strong. I am thankful for churches who have given faithfully for many years. Some of them, because of changes in their situations, have recently needed and received help. This mutual support is a beautiful illustration of what Paul encouraged in 2 Corinthians 8:14: “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality…” I am grateful for every church, large and small, that faithfully gives to support the work of the IBC. It is a privilege for us to support one another in times of need. For as long as I can remember, the IBC has always had approximately 20 churches in a given year who gave nothing to the convention’s cooperative budget, which hinders the work we do and violates the covenant agreement we make as members. Every church can make an equal sacrifice if not equal gifts. I encourage each pastor to look seriously at his commitment to 4 | Highlights 12/2008
Officers and Ministry Team Coordinators for 2008-2009. the work of the IBC. Just as in your local church membership involves mutual commitment to the Lord and to His people, so membership in the IBC calls us to mutual commitment to the Lord and to other member churches as we work together. I am thankful for the International Baptist Church Ministries, a non-profit organization that enables Americans who wish to give to IBC churches and IBC causes to receive tax credit for their contributions. Rudy Oswald, former IBC member and continuing IBC supporter, serves as the current president of this organization. Every year the IBCM makes available several thousand US$ in grants for specific needs of churches or pastors in the IBC. They have also helped to encourage the work Tom Hill began in Central and South America, which has become the Fellowship of International Churches of Latin America (FICLA). Several FICLA churches have now joined the IBC, including IBC Brasilia, Brazil, this year. Find out more about the IBCM at www.ibcmworld.org. This year we celebrated IBC Day on 12 October. We tried to highlight some of the ways we support one another. The day also gave us an opportunity to share specific prayer needs and to increase future prayer support. I hope we can make this annual day a time of celebration for what the Lord is doing among us. It will also help to meet the continual need to inform IBC church members about our work together. I challenge the Church Development Ministry Team to review our guidelines for providing assistance to churches in times of crises so that we deal more effectively with the underlying causes of crises. Help us deal with these challenges in a proactive way. I challenge the Education Ministry Team to facilitate regional and church seminars and training times in the next year that deal with the challenges of IBC churches. Our Virginia partners stand ready to assist, as do other partners in ministry. I challenge the Executive Council and Sub-Council to talk about and recommend actions that can strengthen our churches. I also challenge the Education Ministry Team to provide within the next year online training materials and small group and other resources that are relevant for our churches. I challenge the Nominations Ministry Team to help us identify and recruit people who have expertise in these areas to serve. I challenge our pastors to consider seriously your financial commitment to the work of the IBC. Also, find at least one area where you can make a difference beyond your local church and contribute in some way. Enhancing Fellowship among Churches I grieve when I hear about a church or pastor that feels isolated and without anyone who understands their struggles or cares about their needs. I rejoice when I hear of churches working together and encouraging one another in some way. The biblical view of the New Testament church is not independence but rather interdependence. Autonomy says we are self-governing, but we are not selfsufficient. We need one another. And we belong to one another. As GS, I struggle with trying to implement this lofty sense of fellowship, which I see as crucial to the survival of some Photo by Judith Lynn Maxwell of our churches and the effectiveness of all of our churches. We are trying to build healthy fellowship among our pastors and leaders and between our churches. It takes a commitment on the part of all. As a community of churches seeking to share with a lost world the reconciling message of the Gospel, we must seek to maintain our unity in a spirit of love. It is simply not an option for us to refuse to seek reconciliation by every means possible when that is needed between pastors or between churches. We need to commit to one another and to the Lord to hold each other accountable for striving to live together in unity. Our Regions – now 10 including the newly established Latin American Region – were formed for fellowship and mutual support. Some of our regions this past year have joined in prayer times, training seminars, pulpit exchanges, joint mission and church planting projects, and overnight pastor sharing times. I am grateful to Regional Coordinators like Richmond Ofori, who has made it a priority to keep in touch with the churches of his region and to serve as an advisor, mentor, even reconciler this past year. In northern Germany, Nathaniel Thomas initiated a weekly Skype prayer time for pastors in his region. Paul Dreessen, in the newest region, has communicated with other churches in the Latin American countries to seek to be of help, even though several of these are not yet members. He is representing one of the churches making a request for membership this year. Our regions hold a lot of promise for building fellowship among our churches. Our times together at the Ministry Leadership Conference, Interlaken Assembly, and Annual Meeting are opportunities for relationshipbuilding. Our President Dan Marshall is right in his assessment that the benefit of these times together is, as much as anything, the opportunity to sit together, share together, pray together, and encourage one another. This is one reason we need to strive to make it possible for every pastor and wife to be able to attend these meetings, if possible. An evangelist from the U.S., Phil Waldrep, has helped to provide scholarships the last two years to help bring the cost down for our pastors and leaders to attend the MLC. Pastor Aaron Johnson, from Atlanta, Georgia, has also helped with this. Several anonymous donors have also helped. It is an in- 5 | Highlights 12/2008
Page 1 and 2: Highlights Volume 46, Issue 3 Publi
Page 3: Others Constantly Change Farsi-spea
Page 7 and 8: as one of our IBC trustees. We were
Page 9 and 10: IBC Summary of Basic Beliefs We do
Page 11 and 12: From the Editor’s Pen • In the
Page 13 and 14: News from the Churches Lagos, Portu
Page 15 and 16: News from the Churches Spiritual Gi

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