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Southern Baptists are involved in a vast number of missions efforts around the world. It would be a daunting task to find out about them on one’s own! Resources to guide the missions education of children, youth, and adults are available through the International Missions Board, North American Missions Board, Send Relief, and Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU).

Preschool is the perfect time to introduce the concept of missions to children. They are exploring the world around them and learning to understand God’s love. Missions Friends is an organization that presents missions information in ways preschool children understand. Each session includes biblical connections to missions, hands-on experiences related to specific missionaries and cultures, prayer times, giving, and helping others. The leader’s guide and leader kit help leaders to plan and implement effective teaching sessions.

Many people come to Christ during their elementary school years. They are sensitive to hearing from God. This is a prime time to introduce children to missions and help them understand that God calls every believer to Jesus with others. Children are energized by learning about other cultures and how missionaries creatively share Jesus. Missions Journey: Kids Adventure, Missions Journey: Kids Leader, and Missions Journey: Kids Leader Kit are great resources to help the church intentionally introduce children to missions. MJK can be used with coed, all-boys, or all-girls groups. Children receive a quarterly magazine that has stories and activities about the missionaries they are studying. Digital resources are also available each month.

Youth are in transition to adulthood is an optimal time to solidify their commitment to living on missions. Intentional missions discipleship should be built upon a strong biblical foundation augmented with missional experiences that allow them to make eternal differences with their words and actions. Missions Journey: Students is a yearly digital subscription. Each month new missions content and Bible study to help them discover the biblical mandate for missions. Missions discipleship can be done in co-ed groups, single gender groups (Acteens for teen girls and Challengers for teen boys), or individually. Acteens can participate in an individual achievement plan called MissionsQuest.

Missions discipleship for adults can be tailored to the local church’s needs. Adults learn about missions efforts around the world and God’s mandate to carry the Gospel to every nation. They begin to explore their place in God’s Kingdom work. Suggestions for missions endeavors and guidance in addressing the community’s needs are included in missions materials. Curriculum for Women on Mission includes Missions Mosaic, a monthly magazine, and Women on Mission Leader, a guide to leading Women on Mission groups. Each month’s featured missionaries correspond to the missionaries featured in the children and youth curriculum. A prayer calendar lists missionaries with birthdays. Co-ed groups use Missions for Life, a full year of missions stories, Bible studies, and activities. The resource features the same missions topics as the other groups. Young women are invited to use myMISSION, a digital resource that has a missional Bible study and suggestions for being involved in missions.

Each year the International Missions Board and WMU work together to develop an International Mission Study to introduce believers to what God is doing around the world and invite them to pray and share Jesus. Each year three versions of the study are published:

• Preschool (teaching guide only)
• Children (teaching guide and children’s booklet)
• Adults/teens (teaching guide, Missions Traveler)

A promotional guide helps the church to coordinate this study to be a whole-church event.

Find out about the 2023 International Mission Study on Zambia:

Video conferencing is used to hear from different international, North American, Colorado and Tennessee missionaries and then pray for them and their families.