Twenty-nine new Northwest Baptist (NWBC) churches and a fifth consecutive annual increase in Cooperative Program (CP) missions giving mark continued growth in the mission of NWBC churches. Additionally, the Northwest Impact Missions Offering recorded the largest annual increase in decades, totaling $136,691, or $39,837 above the 2017 offering of $96,854. Growth in numbers of churches and missions giving doesn’t tell us all we need to know about our spiritual health, but they are indicators that our Kingdom footprint in the Northwest is expanding.
First, consider these facts about the 29 new churches (including new church plants, affiliates and campuses). Thirteen new churches are in Oregon and 16 are in Washington. About half of these churches are in the Portland and Seattle metro areas, and half are in other cities and towns. The size of the communities range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands. Two of the 29 churches worship in the Arabic language, one in Russian, one in Zomi, another in Cambodian, five in Spanish, one in Korean, another in Vietnamese, and 17 in English. That’s new churches in eight different languages, all in one year!
How does this happen? The same way it did in the First Century. Some planted, others watered, and God gave the increase. It takes churches, pastors, and missionaries, all working together, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to see the Kingdom advance, and especially cross-cultural, multi-linguistic, Kingdom advance. We need the SBC system of seminaries and mission agencies; we need churches, associations and conventions, all working together, each doing their part, to effectively and consistently penetrate lostness in the Northwest.
Great Commission work is never accomplished by “me and Jesus and no other.” It’s always Jesus and me and many others. Paul had Barnabas and Timothy and Silas, but he also had the Church at Antioch, later joined by churches in Philippi and Ephesus and many others.
Second, CP missions giving in 2018 totaled $2,849,089, for an increase of $35,863 over 2017. With CP missions decreasing nationally, it is remarkable that we have experienced five consecutive years of growth in the Northwest. This, together with significant growth in our Northwest Impact Mission Offering, puts us in a strong position as we train leaders, start and strengthen churches, and do missions, including Disaster Relief missions, in 2019.
Speaking of missions, please pray about joining your fellow Northwest Baptists in sending a team of 130 people to Asia in July 2019. We will minister to hundreds of our overseas workers and their children. More information about this mission opportunity is included elsewhere in the Witness. Paula and I will be there, as will others from throughout the Northwest. In 2016 we sent 163 from 32 churches, so I’m confident we can do this by God’s grace and through faith in Him.
This is an opportunity for rejoicing, Northwest Baptists, and for giving God praise and glory for the great things He has done. Together we see God working mightily in our day, this good day He has given to us.