April 25, 2024
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Georgia Baptists face great challenges in reaching in the state with the gospel, and that’s why it’s imperative that they work together, Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director W. Thomas Hammond Jr. told a group of the state’s top leaders this week.
“Our business is to fulfill the mandates that have been given to us by our Lord to do His work,” he told members of the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee on Tuesday. “We want to reach this world with the gospel. And, together, we can do far more than we can ever do by ourselves.”
Hammond updated the Executive Committee on the work of the Mission Board, starting with the work of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, who are not only helping flood victims in the northwestern corner of the state clean up their homes and properties but feeding them as well. So far, they’ve served more than 11,000 meals.
He also talked about the two Georgia Baptist universities and one Baptist college where thousands of young people are being trained to move into professions in which they can serve Christ.
“They all are receiving an education that’s giving them a biblical worldview so that they’ll not only be on mission in their churches but on mission wherever they go,” Hammond said. “What Georgia Baptists do is having a great impact, and not just within the state.”
He pointed to the Georgia Baptist Convention’s partnerships with counterparts from the conventions of Michigan, New England, New York, Pennsylvania/South Jersey, Puerto Rico and Utah/Idaho as well as those in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, and Argentina to help them reach their own people with the gospel.
“In Central and South America, there are people who are hungry to hear what you have to say,” Hammond said. “Their churches are under-resourced and overwhelmed. They need Georgia Baptists to help, and we are doing just that.”
Hammond said the work of Georgia Baptists within the state is multifaceted and always gospel-centered.
“We’re operating children’s homes, recovery centers, elderly care centers,” he said. “Families across our state are opening up their hearts and their homes, saying we’ll take in foster children or even give them forever homes. We have hundreds of churches partnering with schools to teach third graders to read. You understand that if children can’t read, they can’t read the Bible. There are huge ramifications there.”
Hammond said one of the Georgia Baptist prenatal care centers contacted him recently to tell him another baby had been born.
“You ask, what’s the big deal? Well, this is a baby that otherwise would have been aborted, except for the ministry of Georgia Baptists. Oh, and the mom and the dad have received Christ. You see, we don’t do ministries just to make earth a better place to go to hell from. We do these ministries because they give us an incredible opportunity to share the love of Christ.”
Hammond said he has been troubled by research that shows many pastors have considered leaving the ministry for other professions.
“We’re in a situation now that is concerning,” he said. “Where are the pastors who will replace those who are leaving? We must raise up the next generation of leaders who will take the helm of these ministries and churches across the state. That’s why your Mission Board has a ‘Next Gen’ team working to build a farm system for pastors and other church leaders. Right now, we have 50 people in our farm system, being prepared for ministry.”
Hammond encouraged Georgia Baptist church leaders to keep their focus on the “incredible ministry” that’s being done in their home state and to encourage their churches to support that ministry with their prayers and with their finances.
“My question is, why wouldn’t you want to give to that,” he said. “Maybe what some church is doing in California is troubling you, but why would that stop you from giving to what we’re doing right here? Maybe what somebody said in our convention bothered you. It bothered me, too. But why would you want to stop being a part of what God is doing here? We can become distracted by all the politics in the SBC, but we must not take our eyes off the harvest.”
