Pastor and IMB trustee, Marshall Blalock, welcomes newly appointed IMB missionaries to First Baptist Church Charleston, South Carolina, the very first Southern Baptist church. (IMB Photo)
By Leslie Peacock Caldwell, IMB
The pews of First Baptist Church, Charleston, South Carolina, were filled to celebrate newly appointed International Mission Board missionaries on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Thirty-nine missionaries preparing to live and serve among unreached peoples shared brief testimonies with the crowd and welcomed prayers offered on their behalf.
Marshall Blalock, pastor of the church and IMB trustee, welcomed the missionaries and congregation to the historic church with strong ties to Southern Baptist history. The current sanctuary building, still used today, was built in 1822 and designed by Robert Mills, the architect of the Washington Monument. The church, which began in 1682, has the honor to be the “very first” Southern Baptist church in the United States. The first international missions offering for Southern Baptist missionaries was also collected among its members.
Blalock told missionaries, “This church has always been focused on international missions, and it’s the same today. Our goal is discipleship and sending missionaries.”
IMB President Paul Chitwood emphasized the significance of new missionaries continuing the legacy of missionaries who went before them. Chitwood explained the story of missionary Lula Whilden, who grew up in the church. Three-year-old Lula stood with her parents and siblings in 1848, when they were commissioned as missionaries to China.
Whilden would go back to China at age 25, serving for 45 years among the most vulnerable girls in China. She is known to have reached hundreds of girls, many rescued from human-trafficking, with the gospel and the gift of education.
New missionaries stood on the original floorboards in the First Baptist Church sanctuary where Whilden stood with her family to be sent to the lost.
South Carolina Baptists had more reason to celebrate as two couples representing the Palmetto state took the stage and will soon board a plane with their children for international mission service. Liam and Kennedy Rutledge will be working among students and young adults in Northern Africa. They, along with others heading to secure locations, did not appear online and did not use their real names. Chitwood explained these considerations are important to protect the missionaries and those they will serve.
God affirmed a call to long-term missions for Liam and Kennedy while they were serving with the IMB on a three-year assignment. They said God previously opened opportunities for them to meet missionaries and to go on short-term trips, which helped confirm God’s leading to full-time missions. From the stage, Kennedy said, “Our church has equipped us well through hands-on training, modeling and discipleship.”
Kris and Aubree Kuriger also represent South Carolina. They are being sent from Church at the Mill in Spartanburg. The support of their church isn’t a new thing the Kurigers are experiencing. When Kris was first called on staff in 2016, the church knew he and Aubree were praying about long-term missions service. Not long after, Aubree said she told Kris, “This will be the church that sends us.”
Both Kris and Aubree were given opportunities to travel overseas on mission trips while they were still in high school. They said these experiences helped shift their hearts toward the nations. By the time they met at Charleston Southern University and began seriously dating, they shared an interest in long-term international missions. In the years when they started their careers and had four daughters, God continued His work through them and provided valuable pastoral experience to Kris.
Kris said they’ve done a lot of “praying and asking” in the last 10 years. Two years ago, Aubree visited IMB Journeymen in Europe who had been sent from their church. She came back and told Kris, “It’s time.” The memory brings a smile to their faces, and they laugh thinking about how quickly the Lord gave them clarity when it was time to move on with His plans for them.
“Our church has been so supportive — everyone has,” Kris said, of their appointment. “They’ve known this was coming and are excited for us and what this means for the church.”
The Kurigers will head to England later this year with their four daughters to serve as church planters in an area of 2.8 million people. They know they will be prayed for and supported by family, friends, their sending church and thousands of Southern Baptists.
Fred Luter flew in from New Orleans to bring the evening’s message from the Bible. Luter is in his 39th year as pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and served as Southern Baptist Convention president for two terms.
Luter preached from Acts 1:4-8, focusing on the power of the Holy Spirit given to the missionaries sent from the early church. He noted a list of resources not available to the disciples and asked, “How did such a small group of believers carry out so great a task?”
“Others said of them, ‘Those are the people turning the world upside down!’” he said. “How did they do it? How did they pull it off?”
He emphasized these were plain, ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things for God. How?
“They were simply empowered by another. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit of God and so they were able to do what they could not do of themselves by themselves!”
Applying the biblical message, Luter told missionaries and those gathered, “If you wait on God, He will empower you to do what you cannot do of yourself and by yourself.”
Those who wait on the Lord and have God’s power will become a new person, have a new purpose, and have a new power, Luter preached.
“My prayer tonight is that as you go and do what God has led you to do … because you have been empowered by another, others will see you and say, ‘Those are the people who are turning the world upside down!’”
Most of the new missionaries will soon head to eight weeks of training in Virginia and will reach the mission field later this year. Others have served with the IMB in mid-term service, the term used to describe two- and three-year assignments, and will now return as career missionaries.
As these new missionaries are sent, IMB also celebrates a growing missionary pipeline of applicants preparing for service. The pipeline has passed 1,500 applicants. This is the highest number of applicants in 15 years.
The next Sending Celebration will be held in June in Dallas in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.
These missionaries are sent through generous giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® and the Cooperative Program.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is a registered trademark of Woman’s Missionary Union.
Some names changed for security reasons.