Mission (s) and mission education have always played a significant role in the life of Southern Baptists. A recent study conducted by Debra Bigler for a doctoral dissertation at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary focused on the factors which influence a call to career missionary service. The study was entitled "A Study of the Difference in Mean Ranks of Selected Factors Influencing a Call to Career Missionary Service Among Three Groups Affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention." The three groups were: seminary students preparing for a career in missionary service, career missionaries currently serving, and retired missionaries. The students were enrolled in missiology degree programs at five SBC seminaries. Career missionaries with both the International Mission Board (IMB) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB), and retired missionaries from both boards were surveyed.

• Here's Life Inner City, the urban ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, International, is sending out some 18,550 food-filled boxes through local churches and organizations to bring holiday cheer to the hungry.
  • The packaged "Boxes of Love" are enough to feed more than 111,300 people in the United States

The news is out! According to the most recent census information released on August 15, the face of the United States is changing. CNN's headline for the U.S. proclaimed, "Explosion of diversity sweeps U.S." The New York Times, referring to New York City said, "Immigrant Numbers Swell New York." The Atlanta-Journal Constitution wrote of a local county, "Immigrants Transform Gwinnett." These recent stories reflect the missional opportunities that exist among this ever-expanding population within our country.

How are Southern Baptists doing in reaching North American immigrants for Christ? We have been trying to answer this question at the Center for Missional Research at the North American Mission Board. Our full study is available at www.namb.net/research.