SBTC missions training opportunities abound

By Texan Staff
February 20, 2012
No Comments

Interested in learning more about putting action to your faith at home or across the globe?

The SBTC has training events planned throughout the year, from the annual SENT Conference—a weekend gathering with multiple speakers and breakout sessions—to smaller events with a specific missions focus in mind. There are also vision trips scheduled domestically and internationally during which pastors and lay leaders travel to meet missionaries and learn how to engage with the goal of leading a team back to that region.

The following events are scheduled:

SENT Lab
March 15-17, Euless
SENT Labs are training sessions that equip local churches to identify and reach out to isolated ethnic, language and socio-economic groups in their own communities. These labs will help Christians grasp the cultural and social practices needed to locate, engage and disciple these people groups toward the goal of planting reproducing, New Testament congregations. The trainings use the expertise and experience of missionaries who have served internationally and who understand the growing number of cultures in the United States.

The next scheduled SENT Lab is March 15-17 at First Baptist Church of Euless’ Campus West. For more information or to register, visit sbtexas.com/sentlab/.

SENT Conference
April 27-28, FBC Euless
The annual SENT Conference is the largest missions equipping and information event of the year. The 2012 SENT Conference will include two dozen workshops covering a wide range of mission endeavors, from literacy missions to engaging internationals in your community, to disaster relief training and evangelism strategies.

Additionally, the training is geared for large church groups and individuals interested in leading a church to become missionally engaged. For more information or to register, visit sbtexas.com/sent or contact Gayla Harris in the SBTC missions office, toll-free at 877-953-7282 (SBTC) or gharris@sbtexas.com.

Vision Trips
A vision trip typically includes a small group of interested pastors or lay leaders who travel to a missions destination, spending several days there visiting with missionaries and church planters, encountering the culture, and assessing the spiritual and practical needs. The goal is to capture a vision for the mission and return later with a missions team to assist the missionaries and church planters in their gospel work.

More than a dozen such trips are planned for 2012. The following is a list of available vision trips.

Boston: April 24-25
Utah/Idaho: TBD
Toronto, Canada: March 19-21, April 16-18, May 14-17
Montreal, Canada: May 14-16, Aug. 27-29, Oct. 22-24
India: June 28-July 6, also September TBD
China: September TBD
Japan: July 23-Aug. 2
Turkey: April 30-May 10
Mexico: Dates ongoing

For more information about these trips or connections to other areas not listed, contact Tiffany Smith, the SBTC’s missions mobilization associate, at tsmith@sbtexas.com or call toll-free 877-953-7282 (SBTC).

Embrace Lab-West Texas
March 10, Lubbock
Embrace Labs aim to equip Southern Baptist churches in Texas to embrace an unengaged, unreached people group (UUPG). These labs will help churches to understand what it means to embrace a UUPG and what they will need to give in the process.

Churches will hear from a Southern Baptist pastor who has led his church to embrace a UUPG. They will have the opportunity to network with other churches and pastors who have begun the journey to embracing a UUPG. Finally, churches will hear about future training sessions on embracing a UUPG. The next training is 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. March 10 at Redbud Baptist Church, 801 Slide Road, Lubbock 79416.

Also, two additional Embrace trainings are scheduled as follows: Embrace SE Asian Peoples, March 1-3 in Euless, and South Asia people groups Embrace training, March 27-28 in Longview.

To register for these, visit sbtexas.com/mtraining or contact Gayla Harris, gharris@sbtexas.com, or call toll-free 877-953-7282 (SBTC).

Disaster Relief
The SBTC’s Disaster Relief ministry has been dispatched locally, regionally and around the world. The “yellow shirts,” as they are known, are some of Southern Baptists’ best ambassadors for Christ, offering a warm meal or a helping hand in Jesus’ name during some of the world’s most dire situations.
Working in tandem with Baptist Global Relief, SBTC DR personnel are trained in feeding operations, cleanup-recovery, and chaplaincy.

Upcoming DR trainings are listed below. Phase 1 training is a prerequisite class. Registration is available at sbtexas.com/mtraining.