God's name among the nations
Our goal is to see God's name exalted among the nations through the establishment of healthy, biblical churches.
Where we are supporting work
We're currently supporting missions work in the following areas. For security, please note that details about our work in some areas must be limited.
Zambia
Conrad Mbewe has served as the pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church (KBC) in Lusaka, Zambia since 1987. By God's grace, KBC has had the privilege of planting more than 20 other churches in Lusaka, elsewhere in Zambia, and in surrounding African countries.
One of these is Grace Baptist Church, pastored by Manasseh Kaonga, in Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia. JPBC has had the privilege of supporting this particular work since its inception in 2011, during which time Manasseh and his wife Longa moved to the area, began the work of evangelism, and have now seen a number of conversions and a new church born. Grace Baptist Church constituted membership in November of 2016 with its first five baptisms and thirteen members. Since that time, the church has continued to grow and is now close to finishing a permanent building.
Additionally, we now have the privilege of supporting Silverest Central Baptist Church. Beginning in 2021, Million Kambuli was sent to plant Silverest Central Baptist Church, in another part of Lusaka. This church has grown rapidly, and just elected its first elders recently. Million faithfully preaches the gospel and sound doctrine, and we are excited to partner with him. The church is nearby a university, so this is a major evangelistic opportunity.
Please pray for other leaders to raised up to serve alongside Million and Manasseh and for the ongoing fruitfulness of the missions work of KBC.
Shanghai
We support a couple of families engaged in church planting and college ministry in Shanghai. Through this initiative, the Shanghai Baptist Association has formed, with the goal of establishing and uniting healthy churches in each of the 17 districts in the city, allowing for joint efforts in pastor training, missions, and evangelism.
Portugal
Tiago Oliveira is our missions partner from Lisbon, Portugal. He is married to Marta, and they have three boys: Rúben, David, and Tiago. He has studied at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS and Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI. Tiago now serves as a pastor at First Baptist Church of Lisbon and is the President and Academic Dean of Martin Bucer Seminary Portugal. He also serves with the Portuguese Bible Society, which is the most popular Bible Translation in Portugal.
Missions organizations
These are organizations we partner with and support financially. We're grateful for the way that they support and enable churches to take the gospel to the world and establish healthy churches.
The Pillar Network
The Pillar Network is a community of SBC and International Baptist Churches that are doctrinally aligned, missionally driven, and committed to equipping, planting, and revitalizing churches, together.
9Marks
9Marks exists to equip church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources for building healthy churches. Birthed in 1998 through the leadership of Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, 9Marks serves pastors both locally and abroad through various events, books, and translated resources pertaining to the local church and its ministry.
Nearer to home, the church has run a weekly Bible study and other activities in the Southwood community.
Missions philosophy
Goal
Our goal is to see God's name exalted among the nations through the establishment of healthy, biblical churches. We believe that all missions work should include the explicit verbal proclamation of the gospel and should be conducted under the oversight of local churches with the end goal of establishing or supporting other local churches.
Areas of focus
- Unreached peoples
- Regardless of the resources and risk required, we believe that we must intentionally cross geographic, cultural, and language barriers in order to reach those who have no access to the gospel.
- Strategic church planting and leadership development
- Sound doctrine and healthy churches are essential for the perpetuation of a faithful gospel witness in any area, so we're committed to strategically planting churches and equipping pastors in reached areas as well.
Mercy ministry
Especially in view of the abundance God has given us, we believe that meeting physical needs should often accompany missions work (Gal. 6:10, 2 Cor. 8:14). However, we must be careful not to become distracted from the priority of making disciples (Matt. 28:18-20), create unhealthy dependencies, or incentivize spurious professions of faith. We ultimately want to establish fully indigenous, self-multiplying churches that can fully carry on the work without us.
Go down into the well, or hold the rope
Every member has a part in this. Come on a Wednesday evening and hear the church pray for these workers by name.