STATESBORO, Ga. — At the 202nd annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention last week, W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, celebrated the work of Mission Georgia. Mission Georgia is the GBMB’s state mission offering, and it is the only offering designed and committed specifically to reaching the state with the gospel.
Hammond, speaking on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at First Baptist Statesboro, said, “Georgia Baptists are working together all across our state to make a difference and to bring glory to our Lord,” before laying out some of the ways in which that is happening.
Some churches, he explained, may be aware of needs in their community but not know how to help. Whether the need is related to foster care, helping with literacy, supporting the immigrant or refugee community, or something else, Mission Georgia can provide churches with resources and training, enabling them to be “an answer to prayer.”
The goal, Hammond said, is to “equip every church in Georgia to stand in the gap between brokenness and healing, between hopelessness and hopefulness, between being lost and being saved.”
One of the areas in which Mission Georgia seeks to grow is in ministering to the prison population in Georgia, which Hammond called “one of the greatest mission fields in our state.” He described an initiative that began four years ago to offer prisoners degrees in Christian Studies. Through a partnership with Truett McConnell University and the Georgia Department of Correction, inmates at Philips State Prison were able to take classes taught by TMU faculty and earn their degrees.
TMU President Emir Caner thanked Georgia Baptists and shared how the graduates of the program will be able to reach their fellow inmates for Jesus. Though the graduates will spend the rest of their lives in prison, Caner said, the Department of Corrections will allow them to serve as missionaries and travel to different prisons where they can minister and lead people to Christ. “This wouldn’t happen except because of your generosity,” he told the messengers.
The ministry’s impact is being felt beyond the prison walls, Caner said, before sharing an email he received. In the email, a lady describes her feelings upon learning that the man convicted of murdering her father when she was 8 years old had graduated from the TMU program. “The inmate I was searching for was serving two consecutive life sentences, so I could not imagine why he was getting a degree,” she wrote. “As I read, I was overwhelmed to see that he had received a Christian Studies degree. He said that he had become a Christian in prison and was called to be a missionary there.”
Caner read, “Seeing that this man wants to bring Jesus to others means that this story will have light. Your program has helped to bring beauty from ashes and to show that God always wins.”
Another area in which Mission Georgia serves the state is through Disaster Relief. Hurricane Helene, the worst natural disaster in the state’s history, hit Sept. 26 and left a broad path of destruction from Valdosta to Augusta.
Hammond said that more than 1,000 churches were in the path of the storm, and almost 200 reported various levels of damage. Immediately, Disaster Relief units from Georgia and other states were mobilized and deployed to serve for the next seven weeks. During the response, more than 400,000 meals were prepared, over 2200 jobs were completed, and volunteers provided some 64,000 hours of work worth more than $3 million. The more important number, Hammond shared, is the 126 salvation decisions that resulted from volunteers sharing the gospel with the people they were helping. Thus far, Mission Georgia has invested $1.75 million to help those impacted by Helene.
Robby Foster, pastor of Northside Baptist Church of Valdosta, was joined on stage by fellow pastors from affected churches to thank Georgia Baptists. “We were right in the path of Hurricane Helene,” he recounted, “and disaster relief teams were on the ground, calling us on the phone, making a difference in our community.” He said volunteers from several states besides Georgia were stationed in his church, preparing meals and working through the area on recovery and clean-up teams. “We went through a lot,” he said, “but Georgia Baptists picked us up.”
“We don’t know which storm is coming next year, but here’s what you can know - you have a family that’s going to be there with you,” Hammond told the messengers.
Hammond showed a video of work done the previous weekend in Statesboro by Mission Georgia volunteers, who helped renovate a meeting house for the Korean ministry at First Baptist Statesboro and also worked throughout the community to clear fallen trees from homes and yards. “This is a beautiful picture of who Georgia Baptists are,” Hammond said. “We are all about being the difference, being the answer to a prayer or meeting a need.”
The final area that Hammond said is supported by Mission Georgia is an evangelism initiative hoping to bring the gospel to every individual in Georgia. He said the goal is to train every Georgia Baptist to clearly articulate the gospel and help every church to develop a strategy to intentionally pursue its mission field for Christ. “I believe with 3500 churches and an army of over a million people we can put together a plan that will make a difference, but we need a comprehensive strategy to cover our state.”
Hammond closed by sharing the story of Navy Lt. Cmdr. George Washington DeLong, who commanded the ill-fated mission of the USS Jeannette to chart a path to the North Pole via the Bering Strait. The ship became trapped in ice and the crew was forced to abandon it and seek help. Twenty of the 33 men aboard, including DeLong, perished before being rescued. At a memorial service for DeLong, his wife Emma said, “He belonged to the men who have cared for great things, not to bring themselves honor, but because doing great things could alone satisfy their natures.”
“Oh, that it would be said about Georgia Baptists that we are going to attempt great things for our God,” Hammond said, “God bless you, and may we all work together to reach this great state for Christ.”
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Contributions to Mission Georgia can be made by visiting www.missiongeorgia.com and clicking on the “GIVE” button at the top right. Churches seeking to promote and learn about Mission Georgia may request materials at this link.
