RICHMOND – The Virginia Baptist Mission Board is seeking to fill more than 20 long-term national and international mission positions in its Venturers program, a board leader announced Sept. 8.
The positions include a variety of teaching and social ministry responsibilities in locations ranging from China and South Africa to North Dakota and New England, said Terry Raines, coordinator for mobile mission and disaster relief for the board. Organizers in each of the locations have requested assistance from the board in staffing the positions, said Raines.
The Venturers program, one of several channels for mission involvement administered by the board’s glocal missions and evangelism team, is designed for individuals 18 years of age or older who serve in hands-on mission roles for a period of six months to two years. Depending on the project, Venturers are financially supported in one of three ways — funding by the glocal missions and evangelism team; collaborative funding between the team and the sponsoring mission partner; or funding raised by the Venturer himself or herself.
Positions to be filled include:
- Baptist Collegiate Ministries in New England. Responsibilities involve working with Trinity Baptist Church in New Haven, Conn., and at Yale University, coordinating collegiate ministry for undergraduates and developing teams of volunteers to work in specific ministry areas.
- The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Internationals’ Cluster of Global Missions. Responsibilities involve maintaining, updating and moderating internet-based social networks to create safe places for Muslim-background believers to share experiences and support one another. This ministry is based in Dallas, but the Venturer’s location is negotiable.
- Standing Rock Native American Reservation, a 3,600-square-mile reservation that straddles the borders of North and South Dakota. Responsibilities involve tutoring and mentoring residents, assisting with worship services, community outreach, social ministries, evangelism, recreation and music. Possibilities also exist for age-based ministries.
- Solid Rock Christian Academy, Port Sulphur, La. Responsibilities involve teaching 6th grade or higher, utilizing the A Beka Book curriculum, a Christian educational program. The Venturer will serve on the school’s staff, assisting with administration, advising and other tasks.
- Bellville Baptist Church, Cape Town, South Africa. Responsibilities involve teaching English as a Second Language and basic computer skills to refugees; administration in a refugee center; evangelism and discipleship ministries; women’s and children’s ministries; and, if possible, legal and medical advising.
- Cape Town Baptist Church, Cape Town, South Africa. Responsibilities for the position, to be filled by a female working with children, youth and college students, include community outreach, social ministries, evangelism, recreation and music.
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Door of Hope Baby House, Johannesburg, South Africa. Responsibilities involve serving on the staff of this church-based ministry which works with abandoned babies and attempts to place “AIDS affected and infected children into loving, stable and Christian environments in order to encourage them to become upright citizens and agents of change in South Africa and the world.”
- Deeds of Love Ministries, Roodepoort, South Africa. Responsibilities involve serving as a coordinator with this social outreach and development arm of the Baptist Union of South Africa, working especially with orphans. Offices are based in Roodepoort, near Johannesburg. The Venturer also would assist with planning and coordination of Virginia Baptist volunteers serving in the nearby Free State province.
- International Baptist Church, Bremen, Germany. Responsibilities involve ministries with area college students, including tutoring and mentoring, community outreach, administrative assistance, evangelism and recreation.
- Hungarian Baptist Aid, Budapest, Hungary. Responsibilities involve teaching a specified subject (for instance, physics, history, science or the arts) in a newly-formed English/Hungarian dual language primary school. The Venturer will need a teacher’s diploma and experience.
- Light for the City, Macau, China. Two positions are available with this Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-affiliated project. Both would teach English as a Second Language and assist with ministry in local restaurants and hotels. One position would tutor and mentor youth and teach at the Macau Baptist Secondary School. The other position would tutor and mentor college students and adults.
- China. Responsibilities involve teaching English as a Second Language on a still to be determined college campus. Teaching will include oral English, composition and western culture. The preferred dates of service are September through June.
- Amity Foundation, China. Responsibilities for this two-year tem involve teaching English as a Second Language on a college campus, arranged by the Amity Foundation, a social ministries and development organization with close ties to Chinese Christians.
- Caribbean Christian Publications, Kingston, Jamaica. Two positions are available with this agency of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship. One position will coordinate the development of new Sunday school curriculum to be used by churches in the Caribbean; writers likely will be residents of the region. The other position will involve multimedia operations, including graphic design and computer specialization, to support the CCP’s overall publications ministry.
- Lebanese Baptist Society, Beirut, Lebanon. Responsibilities involve assisting with programs of the Beirut Baptist School. Needed are English teachers, maintenance personnel, a special education teacher, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and a psychologist in the elementary department; and two full-time ECE teachers and a music and art teacher in the preschool department.
- Belize. Responsibilities involve teaching in a still-to-be determined Baptist church-based elementary school, possibly in rural or rustic conditions. Venturers, who will be placed in pairs for this assignment, also will assist in the general ministries of the church.
- Belize City, Belize. Responsibilities involve serving as interim pastor of Galilee Baptist Church, or possibly another Belizean congregation.
Persons interested in any of these positions may contact Raines at [email protected]; at (804) 915-5000, ext. 7322; or at 1-800-255-2428, ext. 7322.