A highlight of the Biennial meeting (June 26-28) in Pasadena, California will be personally interacting with two dozen missionaries (including a development worker and three global consultants) and five international guests from three different countries. The best place for this contact will be at the International Ministries lunches on both Saturday and Sunday.
The missionaries and guests will include:
Gary & Mylinda Baits (Costa Rica) – walk alongside their brothers and sisters in Christ, connecting students with leadership training, scriptures to everyday life and people’s gifts with life-changing ministries.
Mercy & Rick Barnes (Mexico) – focus in Baja on: leadership development for new church planting, teaching at the Seminary, working with short term U.S. mission groups.
Lauran Bethell (Global Consultant) – serves throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas encouraging the development of new projects dealing with the issues of prostitution, trafficking in persons and other forms of abuse and exploitation.
Duane & Marcia Binkley (Thailand) – serve thousands of ethnic Karen and Chin refugees both in the U.S. and in refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar (Burma) border.
Dan & Sarah Chetti (Lebanon) – teach at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut and minister with the International Church.
Rev. Dr. Ondrej Franka (International Guest) – President of the Union of Baptist Churches of Serbia.
Dr. Saw Yi Aye Hla Gabriel (International Guest) – Officer for Social Ministry, Karen Baptist Convention in Burma.
Rev. Dr. Hsa Mu Htaw (International Guest) – Vice Principal, Karen Baptist Theological Seminary in Burma.
Kim Kushner (El Salvador) – will partner with the Baptist Federation of El Salvador in leadership and development projects and serve as coordinator of assessing theological education in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jill & Mike Lowery (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Jill is involved in mission education, women's ministries and youth work; Mike is a professor and administrator at the Pastor's Institute in Kikongo.
Becky & Mike Mann (Thailand) – Becky works with Hmong, Lahu, Lisu, and Karen (Kahr-en’) women to market tribal crafts as well as with parents of special needs children. Mike is a global consultant for rural development that includes agricultural and water projects.
Lori Mann (Development Worker) – ministers through a drop-in center, residential care, young leadership development and sports to street and slum children in the city of Vientiane, People's Democratic Republic of Laos.
Iris & Mario Morales (Bolivia) – teach at the Baptist Seminary of Cochabamba to equip future leaders of local churches and society; Iris teaches psychology and Mario teaches in the theology department.
Ed & Miriam Noyes (Democratic Republic of Congo) – serve with the Baptist Convention of Congo to encourage and support church-based programs contributing to basic food security, improved family livelihoods and the creation of new opportunities through literacy.
Eiji & Emi Osato (International Guests) – missionaries from Japan to Thailand.
Kit Ripley (Thailand) – uses Bible and personal budgeting classes, a handicraft program and therapeutic art classes at the New Life Center Foundation, serving tribal minority girls who face the victimization of human trafficking.
Adalia & Ray Schellinger-Gutierrez (Mexico) – work with women of the “Dios Con Nosotros” Baptist Convention and with victims of domestic violence, offering workshops on alternatives to violence, self-esteem, relationship skills and communication.
Karen Smith (Thailand) – serves at the New Life Center Foundation, which works exclusively throughout Thailand and its neighboring countries with ethnic minority (tribal) women who are at risk for, or are victims of, labor exploitation.
Walt White (Global Consultant) – leads seminars in cross-cultural evangelism whose goal is that people from the major historical religions come to know God in all his fullness through Jesus Christ and live in obedience to Christ in a way that is faithful to God and honors their culture.
