Texas churches answer call to embrace people groups

IRVING—More than 125 leaders from Southern Baptist churches in Texas responded to the appeal to lead their members to embrace at least one unreached, unengaged global people group (UUPG) with the gospel.

The response came during the closing session of the Nov. 14-15 Southern Baptists of Texas Convention annual meeting at the Irving Convention Center during a challenge for Texas churches to take responsibility for reaching 1,000 of the estimated 3,800 UUPGs worldwide.

In International Mission Board terms, an unreached people group is one in which fewer than 2 percent have a Christian testimony; and an unreached, unengaged people is one in which there is no active gospel witness. Some of these 3,800 unengaged peoples have no Bible in their language, and a few have no written language.

After hearing about the International Mission Board strategy from retired and current missionaries as well as IMB president Tom Elliff via videotape and SBTC leaders in person, the audience offered a clear response. 

Several dozen children from Hillcrest Baptist Church in Cedar Hill sang about their desire to follow the Great Commission and “do whatever it takes to give glory to your name” as the call was sounded. 

“God has given us incredible favor, harmony and focus, providing resources for us,” stated John Meador, pastor of First Baptist Church of Euless, appealing for an unprecedented missionary response by churches. “If we don’t lead the way, who will?”

Meador added, “I’m thrilled to be part of the army of God of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and I want to answer my commanding officer who says, ‘Go!’ with a resounding, ‘Yes, we’re going. Yes, I will lead my church to go … to the ends of the earth, reaching unengaged, unreached people groups with the gospel of Jesus Christ for the glory of God.”

Following the meeting, SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards told the SBTC Executive Board the response from Texas Southern Baptists “was just absolutely thrilling and beyond anything we could have asked or thought of.”

A church that agrees to engage a UUPG is doing more than simply praying for that people group; they are taking responsibility to directly engage them with the gospel over the long term utilizing the training and resources of the IMB. The initiative is a change for the IMB, whose 5,500-plus missionaries are spread across the globe.

At a conference earlier this month, Elliff rejected the notion that missions should be “left to the professionals,” reminding those gathered that missionaries are sent out from local churches. “We facilitate that, train them and try to give them some idea about strategy, but ultimately they come from your local churches.” The “Embrace” strategy is an attempt to use trained missionaries and local churches in collaboration.

He and Wright issued a challenge last June for Southern Baptist churches to stake a claim on all 3,800 of the UUPGs by next year’s SBC annual meeting in New Orleans.

Also last summer, the SBTC Executive Board gave $1 million in reserve funds through the IMB’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions while challenging Texas Southern Baptists to embrace at least 1,000 of the 3,800 UUPGs.

Richards, in his report to messengers, said,  “It’s not enough just to give and it’s not enough just to go. … We must give and go together.”

For more information on answering the call to embrace a UUPG, visit sbtexas.com/embrace or contact the SBTC Missions Team toll free at 877-953-7282 (SBTC).