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Midwestern students venture to 9 countries for summer missions


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–Students from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary traveled around the world during the summer, taking the gospel to nine nations, including China, Mongolia and Vietnam.

In Brazil, the largest team saw about 500 people make professions of faith in Christ during a July 1-14 trip to Cacoal, a subtropical city of 30,000 in an agricultural region less than 150 miles from the border of Bolivia in west-central Brazil.

More than 20 people from two seminaries and a Tennessee church formed the church-planting team.

“The ultimate goal of seminary education is the fulfillment of the Great Commission,” Midwestern Seminary President Phil Roberts said. “I am thrilled, therefore, to see the great fruitfulness of Midwestern’s summer evangelism teams. To God be the glory.”

For the Brazil trip, 11 people from Midwestern joined 12 others from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tenn., and First Baptist Church of Lawrenceburg, Tenn. This mission project was organized by Worldwide Church Planters International, based in Memphis. Steve Wilkes, Worldwide’s president and associate professor of missions at Mid-America, led the team’s work in the second most evangelized state in Brazil — Rondonia.

“Our task was evangelism — door-to-door, street evangelism, open-air services and schools,” said Ron Rogers, a former missionary to Brazil who is Midwestern’s associate professor of missions. “We worked four days in two communities which the local missionary had targeted for church starts.”

David Lawrence, pastor of First Baptist Church, Lawrenceburg, led the team from the Tennessee church. Three high school students from the church used their musical talents to draw crowds into parks for mass evangelism. Other team members focused on child evangelism by using stories and crafts to share the gospel.

The team worked with the International Mission Board missionary Minda Hogstrom in Cacoal. Her platform for ministry is children’s and social work. Through the residents of the local neighborhoods, she organizes and leads Bible studies and children’s classes across the city.

In addition to Brazil, Midwestern students participated in summer missions in such ventures as sports evangelism, college ministry, Vacation Bible School, church construction and prayerwalking in China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Kenya, Australia, Romania, Uganda and Bosnia.
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(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: MIDWESTERNERS IN MISSIONS.

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