“After this I beheld, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation, tribe, people, and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed white robes, palms in hand, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ – Revelation 7:9-10

Matt List wasn’t even supposed to be on the launch tour of REV7:9, a missionary movement for 18-25 year olds organized by the International Mission Board. The Virginia Tech student was spending his spring break in Louisiana volunteering at Nicholls State Baptist Campus Ministries.

“Technically, I’m not supposed to be here,” the college junior reiterated, emotion apparent in his voice immediately after the event ended. He was standing with Sara, a student mobilizer for IMB. He had just heard her share her testimony of how God led her to spend a summer as a Hands On missionary, an international missions opportunity for college students and young adults.

List was one of more than 400 students who attended the kickoff of REV7:9 at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on March 11 in conjunction with the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Proclaim collegiate evangelistic conference. The goal of REV7:9 is to create a community of people who are committed to seeing the vision God laid out in Revelation 7:9 come true.

List came to the event exhausted from his week of volunteering, but as Jon Reddick and the group led the worship, List felt energized. Next, Sara took the stage and began to share her testimony, along with two other former IMB missionaries – one who served for three years as a companion and the other for 11 years as a missionary from career – demonstrating to students that a call to mission can take many forms.

As List heard Sara talk about how she was finishing her junior year confused about what she should do next and wondering why she hadn’t committed to an internship or something, it hit her. “I’m sitting here thinking, ‘I’m doing the exact same thing.'”

He had worried about how he had to work on his resume to be able to apply for internships in Boston. But in his heart, it didn’t seem right.

As the sermon continued, he thought of other times over the past few months when he had felt God moving in his heart — at another conference, at his BCM, and just in general.

“He worked and made me grow in a way that I had never grown before,” List said. At the end of the night, he filled out a Next Steps card, giving his information and areas of interest to a student mobilizer for follow-up. He will soon begin the process to serve as a Hands On missionary during the summer.

“Going to some crazy place, doing something some people would call stupid, something some people would call a leap of faith, I would call it the natural culmination of what I feel like God has worked in me,” List enthused.

Joel Bullis recalls his mother telling him stories about the time she spent abroad on the Journeyman program, a two- to three-year missionary term through IMB for college graduates. under 30 years old. He had always thought the program didn’t exist. until his brother also became a companion.

When his brother asked him to come visit when he was in the latter part of his term, he saw the difference it had made in his life.

“Maybe there’s a place for me here,” thought Bullis as he walked home. He felt called to apply for the program.

He spent 2012-2015 as a journeyman in Asia. He says his time abroad was essential to his discipleship process. “I thought I had it before, but I really got it now,” he shared.

Through the program, he saw his “own concerns become more Christ-based,” Bullis said. He ended his tenure with a much larger vision and call to bring the gospel to all peoples and nations than he had ever had before. He seriously thought about spiritual conversations with everyone, and his passion for evangelism was strengthened. He learned to think strategically about his own life and learned to recognize how God was working in the lives of others around him.

As a companion, “God took me out of the cultural aspect of my Christianity to become more in tune with the heart of God,” Bullis said.

Now he and his wife Amanda — also a former Companion — intentionally live in Rancho Cucamonga, California so they can be involved with Story Church, a congregation focused on evangelism, missions, and church planting. . Joel works in IT and Amanda works at the church as a children’s director.

The Bullises were two of the ancient Companions who shared their testimonies at REV7:9. A video from Amanda’s time as a journeyman in South America was shown at the event. The video was followed by a Q&A session led by Jason Thomas, IMB’s African American Church Mobilization Strategist, where she vulnerably shared some of the victories and challenges of her time. as a companion.

Considering the cost of disobedience

Chip Luter, senior associate pastor at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, encouraged students to “obey in the invisible” during the main sermon. Referring to Hebrews 11:6-7, he pointed out the impact of Noah’s obedience in the unseen.

“What if Noah had been disobedient? Luther asked. “Notice the lives it would have cost. He would have lost favor with the Lord. Luter asked the students to consider the cost of their disobedience if they did not go where and when God called.

Highlighting how God has evolved in his own ministry invisibly, Luter shared that he now has the certainty that “wherever God sends me, he is going to blow me away.”

“Obedience in the unseen happens when our faith in God is based on who he is rather than what we can do,” he said.

This key generation to solve the world’s biggest problem

The big picture of REV7:9 is “to inspire the next generation as we live up to the vision God gave us in Revelation 7:9,” said Andy Pettigrew, student mobilization team leader for the BMI. The vision of REV7:9 is also practical.

“We want to expose the next generation of missionaries to real, live projects where they can serve in real life alongside missionaries,” he said. “This event is an opportunity to seize that vision and learn concretely from IMB how we could join God’s move to make His name great among all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues.”

The IMB celebrates the work God is doing around the world. In the past year, 679,494 people heard the gospel and IMB missionaries reported more than 144,000 new believers. Yet 115,473 people die each day without Christ. That’s two people every second.

Conference organizers believe this generation is the key to reducing that number. God wants to use this generation to address the greatest problem that exists in the world today – loss.

Every believer is needed to reach the nations with the gospel, and REV7:9 is intended to help students discover practical next steps in how to pray, give, and reach out to the nations.

“There are places and projects literally all over the world for teens, college students and young adults to spend their lives not only furthering God’s mission, but also learning alongside experienced missionaries,” explained Pettigrew.

More visits to come

The Friday night launch in New Orleans was one of three stops on the spring tour. Young adults and leaders can join IMB at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky on April 9 and in Orlando, Florida on May 7. the country this summer and fall.

“We think this [tour] will increase our ability to inspire and equip more students, campuses, and churches in stewarding the vision of Revelation 7:9,” Pettigrew said. “Our hope is to share the amazing work of what God is doing in the world and the amazing ways the next generation can be a part of it.”

He added, “Church planting, refugee ministry, reaching lost people in the cities of the world, college ministry and more are all opportunities to serve. We want to come and tell you how to make this a reality.

This summer, God may be calling you to move to the Middle East to coach in baseball, basketball, or soccer camps and after-school programs. You would live in a city by the Mediterranean Sea and build relationships with families, which would give you the opportunity to share the gospel among a group of people with very few believers.

Or maybe he’s calling you to spend two weeks in July reaching out to one of the most remote groups of people – the deaf. You could join a team this fall as they train you to share the gospel, tell your story, and reach the lost. Activities will include playing football, climbing mountains and going to an island to share the gospel.

For more information and other opportunities to attend, visit imb.org/students. For more information about REV7:9, visit rev79.com.

Myriah Snyder is an editor/editor for IMB.