by Wayne Faison, BGAV executive director

As I mentioned in my previous article, Mission Forward, Virginia Baptists (a.k.a. Baptist General Association of Virginia, BGAV) are in the process of reinvigorating around one of our main charisms, which is missions. Over the past 202 years, it has been through God’s amazing grace that Virginia Baptists have participated and engaged in God’s amazing mission. To continue to be impactful in God’s mission, BGAV’s staff teams have decided to take some clues from how Jesus sent his disciples out on mission in the New Testament.  

In Luke 10: 1-2, Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs to every town and village where he was about to go. Jesus said to his disciples, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Metaphorically speaking, the term “laborers” used by Jesus in this verse describes those who labor in the spiritual harvest, such as preachers, teachers, and missionaries who spread the gospel. This is exactly what the staff teams of BGAV have decided to do: to carry out God’s amazing mission in pairs as we strive to propagate the gospel in every town and village in Virginia and beyond.

Our Congregational Field Strategists are pairing up with our V3 Church Planting Movement Team. Our Empower Coaching Network is pairing up with our Uptick Team. Our Fresh Expressions North America Team is pairing up with our Impact Missions Team. Our Kairos Initiative Team is pairing up with our Missio Alliance Team. Our Marketing Team, Information Technology Team, Executive Office, Treasurer’s Office, and Business Office are coming together. We have decided to connect our teams, because we truly believe that we can do more together as teams for the Kingdom than we can do separately.  

To simplify things, we are housing each of these pairings under what we call “banners.” Similar to how we decided to take our clues from Jesus in regards to “pairings,” we’ve decided to take a hint from Moses in regard to the creation of “banners.” Exodus 17:15-16 reveals how Moses built an altar and called it “The Lord is my Banner,” because God gave him the victory over his enemies every time he lifted up God’s name. Therefore, housing each of our pairings under a respective banner signifies our belief that God will give us the victory upon the altars of a dying world hungry for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Stay tuned and be on the lookout for my next article entitled, “Mission Forward: Part III,” as I go into more details concerning the above-mentioned pairings and the respective banners under which they are being housed to do missions.

‍

‍