International Mission Board

==History==

[[File:Headquarters, Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Organized 1845 (no title) (16215269464).jpg|thumb|left|Postcard of the Foreign Mission Board building in Richmond, Virginia. Photo courtesy of the [[Virginia Commonwealth University]] Libraries]]

Thousands of small Southern Baptist churches dotted the landscape throughout the United States in the mid-19th century. Recognizing that many churches working together in missions could accomplish more than any one, the ''Board of Foreign Missions'' was established on May 10, 1845 (the same date the Southern Baptist Convention was formed) and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, USA.<ref>George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 1206</ref> Created as a missionary sending organization funded through the cooperative efforts of SBC churches, they chose [[China]] as their first mission field and on September 1, 1845, the board appointed their first missionaries, Samuel C. Clopton and George Pearcy.<ref>[[Bill J. Leonard]], ''Baptists in America'', Columbia University Press, USA, 2005, p. 100</ref>

In January 1849 the board began ''The Commission'' magazine to keep constituents informed of the mission work being carried out. Monthly circulation of the periodical reached 7,000 by April 1850. It eventually became an online magazine with an occasional print issue. Their first publication, ''Southern Baptist Missionary Journal'' is defunct.

[[File:Lottie Moon-1.jpg|thumb|right|Lottie Moon]]

On July 7, 1873, the board appointed its most famous missionary, [[Lottie Moon|Charlotte D. "Lottie" Moon]], to China. Lottie served many years among the Chinese and after giving her life to foreign missions. In 1888, the annual fund-raising effort, ''The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering'' sponsored by the [[Woman's Missionary Union]] is established and latter take her name.<ref>Ruth A. Tucker, ''From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions'', Zondervan, USA, 2011, p. 298</ref> By December 1950 the Board had appointed a record-breaking 111 missionaries in that year alone.

In July 1964 the Board began a new effort to send single missionaries called the Journeyman Program. Today the Journeyman Program sends out hundreds of singles and married couples under 30 years of age each year for a two-year term throughout the world. In February 1989 the International Service Corps program was introduced to facilitate short-term missions for projects lasting from 4 to 24 months with a possible 12-month extension.

In 1997 the ''Foreign Mission Board'' voted to change its name to the ''International Mission Board'' which it is known by today.<ref>Lamin O. Sanneh, Joel A. Carpenter, ''The Changing Face of Christianity: Africa, the West, and the World'', Oxford University Press, USA, 2005, p. 72</ref> The International Mission Board celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2020 and in 2022 it has 3,552 missionaries.<ref>IMB, [https://www.imb.org/fast-facts/ Fast Facts], imb.org, USA, retrieved November 14, 2022</ref>