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As the North American Baptist Conference has been moving towards a more ‘strategic’ way to accomplish our collective ‘ends’ (or goals), NAB Gateway found itself front and center this past month in the discussion of International Missions at the NAB Strategy Team meetings in Roseville, CA.
As a part of the Strategy Team’s focus on International Missions, which includes the ‘ends’ of Sending Missionaries and Facilitating International Partnerships, NAB Gateway’s emphasis on Long-Term Partnerships (LTP) was clarified among this key group of NAB key leaders that make up the Strategy Team. But what was most meaningful about the day was not really the opportunity that I was afforded to share about what NAB Gateway is currently doing when it comes to LTPs/STMs, Training, Resources, and Coaching; but to hear how the various NAB leaders around the room (Regional Ministers, Seminary Presidents, etc.) were challenged to participate in new ways to help NAB Gateway achieve the goal of Facilitating International Partnerships among our churches and affiliated organizations.
Whether it was hearing that a Regional Minister would take a more active role in helping promote an NAB Gateway training event in their region or that more deliberate collaboration could be pursued between NAB Gateway and our Missional Living ‘ends,’ the overall takeaway from this time together was very encouraging.
All of this doesn’t even touch on the exciting collaboration that continues to take place among all of our NAB missionaries and NAB Gateway as we continue to move forward from 2016’s NAB Missionary Global Summit and the important decisions we made there. Every one of our NAB Mission Fields is ‘on board’ with the goals of Facilitating International Partnerships among our churches and churches/organizations on the mission fields, as well as, of course, continuing to help more individuals recognize ‘calls’ to vocational missionary service even as a result of their church’s LTP efforts that NAB Gateway supports.
We have much to look forward to as we continue to serve together!
For the Kingdom,
Randy Schmor