IMB report: 500k baptized internationally

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CORPUS CHRISTI?More than 500,000 people were baptized and
29,000 congregations were birthed last year internationally because of Southern
Baptist missionary engagement.

Gordon Fort, the International Mission Board vice president
for global strategies, told messengers and guests at the SBTC annual meeting on
Nov. 16 that SBC international missionaries have “continued to engage ? at a
rate of over 100 new people groups a year.”

To flourish and make other disciples, new believers must
“must be grounded theologically,” said Fort, noting that 12,500 converts were
trained last year in theological education.

And in many places, persecution for following Jesus is the
norm. For example, in southern Bangladesh, Hindus persecuted new converts and
more than 500 homes were burned, Fort said.

In China, God is moving in unprecedented ways, he added.

“The Zhuang Chinese are one of the most responsive people in
the world today. They are simply waiting for someone to present the gospel to
them.”

In Cuba, more than 75 percent of the population has either
personally been witnessed to or received a gospel tract from the Baptists
there, he said.

“We’re grateful to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention
for your support,” Fort said.

Fort also spoke at the SBTC President’s Luncheon, stating
that every believer “ought to have a passport. We ought to put our name on the
altar and say, ‘Lord, anytime, anywhere ? you want me to go. What part of ‘go’
don’t we understand?'”

Churches should “tithe” their membership to go out and reach
others, he said.

Other nations are setting an example to American believers,
he noted. For example, Argentine Baptists have sent out 700 missionaries; in
Europe the gypsy population has dispatched 33 missionaries.

Southern Baptists are not held back for lack of money, Fort
said.

“It’s not the economy, it’s priority.”