2022 Missions Banquet looks towards sharing the gospel with ‘every nation, tribe and language’

WACO– “There will be people from every nation, tribe and language bowing before the throne. It’s not a matter of if it’s a matter of when,” Chase Tozer*, an International Mission Board (IMB) missionary, said to attendees of the 2022 Missions Banquet. The Missions Banquet is an annual celebration of the work happening through the Center of Missional Engagement and takes place in conjunction with the Texas Baptists Annual Meeting.

The event was co-hosted by Buckner International President Albert Reyes and Texas Baptist Men Director of Ministry Advancement Team Rand Jenkins. Both institutions have a long history of partnering with Texas Baptists to share the gospel with people in difficult circumstances.

Texas Baptists Executive Director David Hardage led a commissioning service for Texas Baptists missionaries. Many of the missionaries serve along the Rio Grande River, on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border.

“Thank you for who you are and what you do,” Hardage said. “You have our heart and our support, and we are excited for what’s going to happen in the days ahead.”

Noe Trevino, director of the Missionary Adoption Program (MAP), interviewed a MAP missionary from India named Depak. They asked banquet attendees to partner with a MAP missionary, who are local missionaries supported through a partnership with local and Texan churches. Whether through prayer, funds or visiting, churches in Texas can impact the lives of people around the world.

Tozer presented the keynote address. Tozer, a missionary in South Asia, said that in his part of the world alone, there are 1.8 billion people and 1,039 unreached, unengaged people groups. He encouraged attendees not to think of these as statistics, but as real people in need of the love of Christ.

“We’re not talking about statistics; we’re talking about names and faces of real people,” he said.

Tozer shared from Revelation 7:9-10. The Bible has promised that people from every nation and tribe will worship Jesus one day, he said. When Christians share the gospel and support mission work, they are aiding the kingdom in that work.

“Thank you for helping real people meet the real Savior of the world. Through MAP, through the IMB, through your partnerships, you’re making an eternal difference everywhere,” Tozer said.

Jerry Carlisle, president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, concluded the night by asking attendees to consider partnering in missions. He said MAP has missionaries in 14 countries, and 61 missionaries are committed to serving but do not have the funds to do so.

“We all have the opportunity to make a difference in this world,” Carlisle said.

Learn more about the Center for Missional Engagement at txb.org/missions.