Missionary Adoption Program (MAP) receives gift from pioneering Baptist missions leader

The Apostle Paul noted in 2 Corinthians that “God loves a cheerful giver,” and James “Jim” William Lemuel Adams, Jr., founder and executive director of International Baptist Ministries, or IBM, is as cheerful as they come. 

On May 6 at First Baptist Church College Station, Noe Treviño, director of Texas Baptists’ Missionary Adoption Program (MAP) presented Adams with a certificate of appreciation for his financial support of global missionaries spanning more than 40 years. In return, Adams presented Treviño with a generous $8,000 check to MAP. 

“As I was speaking with him…I just kept thinking ‘Wow, may your tribe increase,’” said Treviño, reflecting on receiving the financial gift in support of MAP operations. 

“There's such a need for missionaries around the world to be supported and get the gospel of Jesus Christ out there, and one of the biggest needs is finances. [Adams] did that for over 40 years,” said Treviňo. “I was just very humbled to be in his presence, and I was impressed by the number of years that he labored to make sure that missionaries were taken care of.”

IBM was born out of his passion for seeing God at work in the countries where Adams was invited to preach, said his son, David Adams, director of discipleship at Texas Baptists’ Center for Church Health. 

“In 1965, while pastor of First Baptist Church Victoria, he was invited to preach in New Zealand with the Trans-Pacific Crusade and that was the beginning of his passion for travel and missions. Every time he returned from a mission trip, I remember him gathering the family and then the church for a slideshow, explaining the unique beauty of the places he visited, but also the beauty of the people he met and their need for Jesus,” said David Adams.

According to David Adams, his father and his father’s seminary friends Bob Wimpee, John Taylor and Al Cummins were determined to find ways to support church planters, missionaries and students preparing for ministry in other countries. In 1980, IBM became the channel for that work. Over the next 44 years, IBM was involved in mission work with people in over twenty countries. IBM is reported to have retired with Adams.

Treviño commended Jim Adams for remaining faithful to his vision and efforts to support worldwide missionaries.

“The initial intent of his organization, and what these funds have been used for all these years, continues through his donation to the Missionary Adoption Program because that’s exactly what we do,” said Treviño. “So I just thought ‘How fitting that he would choose an organization [like MAP] because it carries out exactly what his organization has carried out for over 40 years.’”

MAP exists to connect Texas Baptists churches with churches, associations and conventions in countries all over the world to jointly adopt local missionaries native to those countries. These missionaries intentionally focus on evangelism, discipleship and church planting in their own context. 

Currently, MAP missionaries serve in seventeen different countries around the world, with partnerships held in Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Tanzania, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Brazil, Argentina, Myanmar, Spain, Japan, Macedonia, Greece, Mexico, Peru, Canada and the United States. MAP is working to expand their efforts to El Salvador, Cuba and Kenya. 

To learn more about the Missionary Adoption Program and how you can support, visit txb.org/map.