Boston and Beyond Presentation
BMM General Council
2019-03-07
Dear Council Members,
Thank you for taking time to hear about the Boston and Beyond ministry plan. I am eagerly anticipating our collaboration and have been praying that our Father will grant us wisdom as Boston and Beyond is vetted, and hopefully, weaved into the fabric of Baptist Mid-Missions.
Boston
Deb and I moved to Boston 20 years ago in order to minister the gospel to international students and scholars. Over the years, God has taught us that the academic community is only one part of what makes large cities important places to minister. Because large cities consist of immigrant communities, tourist industries, internationally integrated businesses and globally connected city governments, these cities are strategic hot spots for Great Commission ministry. In Boston, on any particular day, we can potentially touch any part of the world.
Boston and Beyond
However, ministry in Boston has not remained in Boston. [1]Our disciples leave Boston and take the gospel with them. Friends and family members have responded to Christ through their witness. By using video conferencing augmented with occasional visits, we have been able to help these disciples in their evangelistic and discipleship ministries. Individuals have become Christians and young Christians have been strengthened. By following gospel-centered relationships made in Boston, globally, we have been able to disciple into other parts of the world.
A Globalized[2]Cities Initiative
We see the potential to join these disciples in other globalized cities, helping them to be faithful to our joint calling of making disciples in all nations. The resulting plan is being called, Boston and Beyond a globalized cities initiative.
The Plan
1. Build the Church: We will continue to help establish the International Baptist Church (IBC), which is designed to minister to the whole demographic of Boston. The IBC will provide the foundation and launching pad, which these disciples will need, as they go home and duplicate what they have learned in Boston.
2. Evangelize the Nations: Our outreach to the global community of Boston will continue. The goal is to develop evangelistic relationships/Bible studies with individuals from all parts of the world.
3. Recruit the Workers: We will recruit and train church members, interns, and vocational missionaries to live and work in globalized cities, internationally. This training will take place in Boston.
4. Target Strategic Cities: Through relationships made in Boston and by means of demographic studies we will identify the most strategic cities internationally.
5. Launch the Teams: Teams will be formed which will include vocational missionaries, church members, as well as international disciples made in Boston. These teams will travel to the strategic cities in order to network with existing churches and/or to start churches capable of ministering the Word of God to the surrounding areas.
During our twenty years in Boston, God has shown us that by ministering in Boston, the gospel will travel globally. Our desire is to accelerate by working with the body of Christ to disciple the world, starting in Boston, and then extending globally—Boston and Beyond.
Please help us,
Bill and Deb
[1] By “Our disciples,” we are referring to those who have become Christians in Boston through the ministry to which God has called us. We understand that it is God who works in them, and that we are blessed to be used by Him to do so.
[2]A globalized city is technically defined as a city of at least one million which is connected internationally by human interactions.