One is sending them on missions, especially in other countries. As a pastor in Tennessee, Arkansas and South Carolina, Billings saw the impact that missions had on volunteers. The poverty, social conditions and challenges of being a Christian in a non-Christian area often transformed people. The greater number of people I could get out into the missions field, the greater difference it made on the local church. So one of Billings' latest initiatives is to make the association a center for short-term international and domestic missions for Houston Southern Baptists.
Several churches have missions in Mexico, India, Russia and other countries.
The bulletin board will inform pastors and members of smaller churches about the international and domestic missions available and where they can join. Simons visited Addis Abba, Ethiopia, with several volunteers in September to scout out missions possibilities in that African country. May. Simons is also planning missions for the Los Angeles area. Southern Baptists there are asking for construction volunteers since building facilities in that earthquake-prone area is expensive, she said. She is also seeking a Hispanic church to partner with an African-American church so members can jointly evangelize neighborhoods without causing racial tensions.