{"id":41902,"date":"2023-02-13T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridabaptist.wpengine.com\/?p=41902"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:15:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:15:17","slug":"namb-trustees-meet-missionaries-reaching-miamis-unique-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/namb-trustees-meet-missionaries-reaching-miamis-unique-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"NAMB Trustees meet missionaries reaching Miami\u2019s unique diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pictured Above: Trevor Doles, left, will launch Faith Church, a new church plant, March 5 in the Aventura-Hallandale region of Miami. Doles recently completed a church planting residency at Grace Church, pastored by Eric Bancroft, second from right. Next to Doles is his wife, Olivia, and to the right is Tim Wolfe, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) send city missionary for Send South Florida. On a vision tour Monday, Feb. 6, NAMB trustees visited several Miami-area missionaries to learn more about their work in the area. Trustees met Feb. 6-7 in Miami.<\/em> NAMB photo by Joseph Ibarra.<\/p>\n

MIAMI \u2014 Against a backdrop of Miami\u2019s vast diversity and vibrancy, trustees with the North American Mission Board<\/a> (NAMB) met to celebrate church planters and other missionaries who are reaching a region whose residents are, in some areas, nearly 60 percent foreign born. Trustees also welcomed news that recently retired pastor Ken Whitten will head up NAMB\u2019s leadership ministry.<\/p>\n

Announcing Whitten\u2019s role as national director of pastoral leadership, NAMB president Kevin Ezell said, \u201cWe need someone focused on pastors. We want a pastor to pastors. I can\u2019t think of anyone better than Ken Whitten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
In his report to North American Mission Board (NAMB) trustees Feb. 7, NAMB president Kevin Ezell shared details of Ken Whitten\u2019s new role as national director of pastoral leadership at NAMB. Ezell also emphasized that NAMB must continue to press forward with the priority of church planting. NAMB trustees met Feb. 6-7 in Miami.<\/em> NAMB photo by Joseph Ibarra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the role, Whitten, who recently retired after 33 years as pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, will create equipping and training opportunities for pastors, oversee NAMB leadership labs and assist pastors in crisis or transition. See related story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NAMB trustees met Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 6-7. On Monday, trustees worked in committees before traveling together to Grace Church in Miami Shores. Eric Bancroft planted the church in 2019. The church will launch a new congregation\u2014Faith Church\u2014on March 5. Trevor Doles, who will pastor the new church in the nearby Aventura-Hallandale region of Miami, has just completed a residency at Grace.<\/p>\n

Next, trustees ventured to the University of Miami\u2019s campus to make their first visit to a Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM) since messengers at the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting gave NAMB a new ministry assignment for collegiate work to NAMB. Trustees also heard from Gus Hernandez, who leads NAMB\u2019s GenSend work in South Florida. GenSend gives college students hands-on ministry experience during summer and semester service times, cultivating a heart for missions in the next generation.<\/p>\n

At a celebration dinner Monday evening, trustees hosted 15 church planters and their wives. The dinner included several interviews and panel discussions led by Ezell. One panel showcased the close partnership between NAMB and the Florida Baptist Convention (FBC) through the Send South Florida initiative and Send Network Florida. Tommy Green<\/a>, the FBC\u2019s executive director, welcomed trustees in a video message.<\/p>\n

Al Fernandez, the FBC\u2019s regional catalyst for Southeast Florida<\/a>, spoke about the challenges and opportunities for ministry in Miami and South Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a place where people are coming from all over the world, and we can impact the world for Jesus right here,\u201d Fernandez said. He pointed to recent news stories reporting that 10,000 new students have enrolled in Miami-Dade schools since the previous school year. Some 4,000 of those students are from Cuba, with most of the rest coming from Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.<\/p>\n

In another panel discussion, Send Network president Vance Pitman and Dean Inserra, pastor of City Church in Tallahassee, joined Ezell to discuss the urgent need for more churches to actively engage in church planting.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Send Network president Vance Pitman, right, and Dean Inserra, center, pastor of City Church in Tallahassee, Fla., joined North American Mission Board (NAMB) president Kevin Ezell, left, to discuss the urgent need for more churches that will actively engage in church planting. The panel discussion took place during a celebration dinner Monday evening, Feb. 6, where NAMB trustees hosted 15 church planters and their wives. The dinner included several interviews and panel discussions led by NAMB president Kevin Ezell. Trustees met Feb. 6-7 in Miami.<\/em> NAMB photo by Joseph Ibarra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I talk to guys in my peer group, my age group, what makes us excited is church planting,\u201d Inserra said. \u201cThe\u00a0International Mission Board, our seminaries and church planting are the big three that get people excited, and we also want to see church plants succeed. And a church plant is going to be better off, not just if City Church starts it, but if five other churches can come on board as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitman said any size or age church can plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Hope in Las Vegas, the church I planted 22 years ago, we planted our first church when we were a year-and-a-half old and had 300 people. So, you don\u2019t have to be a big church or an old church to multiply.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Gus Hernandez leads North American Mission Board (NAMB) GenSend work in South Florida. GenSend gives college students hands-on ministry experience during summer, semester and week-long service times that help cultivate a heart for missions in the next generation. On a vision tour Monday, Feb. 6, NAMB trustees visited several Miami-area missionaries to learn more about their work in the area. Trustees met Feb. 6-7 in Miami. <\/em>NAMB photo by Joseph Ibarra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

During their full Board session Tuesday afternoon, trustees received several reports:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Matt Smith, NAMB\u2019s chief financial officer, reported that year-to-date revenue is outpacing spending, giving NAMB a positive balance going into the Spring.<\/li>\n
  • Finance Committee chairman Clark Reynolds, who serves as missions pastor at Houston\u2019s First Baptist in Houston, Texas, reported that the finance committee met with auditors from the independent accounting firm of Batts, Morrison, Wales and Lee, who gave NAMB an \u201cunqualified\u201d rating, the highest, most favorable audit rating possible.<\/li>\n
  • Other committees sharing reports included those overseeing Evangelism, Send Relief, Send Network, Chaplaincy, Abuse Prevention and Compensation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \"\"
    Al Fernandez, left, the Florida Baptist Convention\u2019s regional catalyst for Southeast Florida, spoke about the challenges and opportunities ministry in Miami and South Florida bring. Also pictured is Send South Florida director James Peoples. Fernandez spoke at a celebration dinner Monday evening, Feb. 6, where North American Mission Board (NAMB) trustees hosted 15 church planters and their wives. The dinner included several interviews and panel discussions led by NAMB president Kevin Ezell. Trustees met Feb. 6-7 in Miami.<\/em> NAMB photo by Joseph Ibarra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

     <\/p>\n

    In addition to sharing about Whitten\u2019s role as national director of pastoral leadership, Ezell emphasized in his president\u2019s report to trustees that NAMB must continue to press forward with the priority of church planting.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBut planting is hard, and it\u2019s expensive,\u201d Ezell told trustees, outlining the anticipated cost to expand into higher church planting numbers each year.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThis is achievable,\u201d Ezell said. \u201cBy 2026, we will need Annie giving to be at $80.6 million. It is achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe are incredibly grateful,\u201d Ezell said. \u201cWe have accomplished so much more than we ever expected. But there are more churches to plant, more people to serve and more people to share Jesus with.\u201d<\/p>\n

    By Mike Ebert, NAMB<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Against a backdrop of Miami\u2019s vast diversity and vibrancy, trustees with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) met to celebrate church planters and other missionaries who are reaching a region whose residents are, in some areas, nearly 60 percent foreign born.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":41903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,24,25],"tags":[172,173],"class_list":["post-41902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-expanding","category-region-southeast","category-stories","tag-church-plant","tag-faith-church"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67598,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41902\/revisions\/67598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}