Displaying items by tag: new churches
‘We’ve seen the Holy Spirit working’
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) reported some truly stunning numbers surrounding its international mission’s efforts, noting impressive increases in baptisms and sharing the Gospel throughout 2020. ‘We’ve seen the Holy Spirit working across the globe in mighty ways,’ said Wilson Geisler of its International Mission Board. There was a 62% increase in new believers between 2019 and 2020, rising from 89,000 to over 144,000. During the same period, baptisms swelled 81% - from 47,929 to 86,587. That is not all: 769,494 people heard the Gospel in 2020, up from 535,325 in 2019, with 18,380 churches planted across the globe in 2020. Most evangelism increases took place in South Asia, where 89% of the baptisms unfolded, and 97% of new churches were planted. These statistics are particularly fascinating amid the backdrop of a pandemic that left many domestic and global churches shuttered, restricted, or otherwise quieted.