American Baptist International Ministries

Last updated
American Baptist International Ministries
Founded1814;207 years ago (1814)
FoundersWalter Gowans
Rowland Bingham
Thomas Kent
Type Non-profit
Headquarters King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States
Location
  • 70 countries
Fields Christian Missionary Outreach
Affiliations American Baptist Churches USA
Website internationalministries.org

American Baptist International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Contents

History

Adoniram Judson, co-founder of the Missionary Society Adoniram judson.jpg
Adoniram Judson, co-founder of the Missionary Society

The Society was founded in 1814 as the Baptist Board for Foreign Missions by the Triennial Convention (now American Baptist Churches USA). [1] The first mission of the organization takes place in Burma with the missionaries Adoniram Judson and Ann Hasseltine Judson in 1814. [2] Other missions that followed took place in Siam in 1833, India in 1840, China in 1842, Japan in 1872 and Philippines in 1900. [3] It is renamed American Baptist Missionary Union in 1845, American Baptist Foreign Mission Society in 1910, American Board of International Ministries in 1973. [4] In 2018, it had 1,800 volunteers in 70 countries. [5]

Prominent American Baptist Missionaries

See also

The first chapel in the proximity of Kintambo, now "avenue de l'Avenir", quartier Basoko, Ngaliema, founded 1891 by Sims Aaron, legal representative to ABFMS. Chapelle missionnaire CBCO Sims.jpg
The first chapel in the proximity of Kintambo, now "avenue de l'Avenir", quartier Basoko, Ngaliema, founded 1891 by Sims Aaron, legal representative to ABFMS.

Related Research Articles

This timeline of Christian missions chronicles the global expansion of Christianity through a listing of the most significant missionary outreach events.

The Myanmar Baptist Convention is a Baptist Christian denomination in Myanmar. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and the World Council of Churches. The headquarters is in Yangon.

Adoniram Judson

Adoniram Judson, Jr. was an American Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Adoniram Judson was sent from North America to preach in Burma. His mission and work with Luther Rice led to the formation of the first Baptist association in America to support missionaries.

Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches

The Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches is a Baptist Christian denomination churches union, affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance, in Philippines. Headquartered in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines, it was founded in 1900 as the first and oldest organized Baptist churches union in the Philippine islands when the Philippines was opened to Protestant missions after the succession of the Philippines by Spain to the United States in 1898.

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most important of American missionary organizations and consisted of participants from Reformed traditions such as Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and German Reformed churches.

Protestants in Myanmar make up 3% of that nation's population, many of them Baptists. Most Christians are from the minority ethnic groups such as Karen, Lisu, Kachin, Chin, and Lahu. An estimated 0.1 per cent of the Bamar population is Christian.

Ann Hasseltine Judson American missionary

Ann Hasseltine Judson was one of the first female American foreign missionaries.

The American Baptist Home Mission Society is a Christian missionary society. Its main predecessor the Home Mission Society was established in New York City in 1832 to operate in the American frontier, with the stated mission "to preach the Gospel, establish churches and give support and ministry to the unchurched and destitute." In the 19th century, the Society was related to the Triennial Convention of Baptists. Today it is part of that Convention's successor, the American Baptist Churches, USA, and is the successor by merger of several 19th century Baptist organizations related to missions and education, including publications (1824), women (1877), and education (1888).

Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society is a Baptist missionary society that was involved in sending workers to countries such as China as far back as the late Qing Dynasty. It was organized in 1842 and is still active in promoting the gospel of Jesus around the world.

Christianity in Myanmar

Christianity in Myanmar has a history dating to the early 18th century. According to the 2016 census, Christianity is the country's second largest religion, practiced by 6.3% of the population, primarily among the Kachin, Chin and Kayin, and Eurasians because of missionary work in their respective areas. About four-fifths of the country's Christians are Protestants, in particular Baptists of the Myanmar Baptist Convention; Roman Catholics make up the remainder.

Protestants in India are a minority and a sub-section of Christians in India and also to a certain extent the Christians in Pakistan before the Partition of India, that adhere to some or all of the doctrines of Protestantism. Protestants in India are a small minority in a predominantly Hindu country, but form majorities in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and sizeable minorities in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and various east coast and northern states. Protestants today trace their heritage back through a rich history of Christian and monotheistic faith on the Indian subcontinent.

Protestantism in Thailand

Protestants in Thailand constitute about 0.66% of the population of Thailand. Protestant work among the Thai people was begun by Ann Judson in Burma, who evangelized Thai war captives who were relocated to Burma. Protestantism was introduced to the country of Thailand in 1828 through the work of Karl Gutzlaff and Jacob Tomlin, the first two resident Protestant missionaries in Thailand.

Triennial Convention First national Baptist denomination in United States

The Triennial Convention was the first national Baptist denomination in the United States. Officially named the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions, it was formed in 1814 to advance missionary work and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In a dispute over slavery and missions policy, Baptist churches in the South separated from the Triennial Convention and established the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845. This split left the Triennial Convention largely Northern in membership. In 1907, the Triennial Convention was reorganized into the Northern Baptist Convention, which was renamed American Baptist Churches USA in 1972.

Luther Rice

Luther Rice, was a Baptist minister who, after a thwarted mission to India, returned to America where he spent the remainder of his career raising funds for missions and advocating for the formation of a unified Baptist missionary-sending body, which culminated in establishment of the Baptist Triennial Convention. He also raised funds to establish The Columbian College in Washington, DC.

Asia Pacific Baptist Federation

The Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF) is a regional organization of the Baptist World Alliance, a worldwide fellowship of churches that subscribe to Baptist distinctives. The APBF was formed in the then British colony of Hong Kong in 1973 as the Asian Baptist Federation (ABF). It adopted its current name in 2007 after a resolution was approved during the ABF Congress held in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand from 2 May to 6 May 2007.

Characteristic of Christianity in the 19th century were Evangelical revivals in some largely Protestant countries and later the effects of modern Biblical scholarship on the churches. Liberal or modernist theology was one consequence of this. In Europe, the Roman Catholic Church strongly opposed liberalism and culture wars launched in Germany, Italy, Belgium and France. It strongly emphasized personal piety. In Europe there was a general move away from religious observance and belief in Christian teachings and a move towards secularism. In Protestantism, pietistic revivals were common.

Karen Baptist Convention, Myanmar was established in 1913. It is located in Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Today the Karen Baptist Convention is the largest member body of the Myanmar Baptist Convention, which was formed in 1865. Leaderships in the organization are for a four-year term and can only be re-elected for one more term. It has 18 associations. KBC is doing mission works not only in Karen people but also to other tribes and races. KBC maintains one press called the Go Forward Press. KBC also operates Karen Baptist Theological Seminary and Karen Baptist Convention's Hospital at Insein, Yangon, Myanmar.

References

  1. George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 63
  2. Thomas Armitage, A History of the Baptists: Traced by Their Vital Principles and Practices, The Baptist Standard Bearer, USA, 2001, p. 814
  3. David Shavit, The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group, USA, 1990, p. 7
  4. Daniel G. Reid, Robert D. Linder, Bruce Shelley, Harry S. Stout, Craig A. Noll, Concise Dictionary of Christianity in America, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2002, p. 14
  5. ABIM, HISTORY, internationalministries.org, USA, retrieved November 30, 2018

Primary sources