This year, the International Mission Board (IMB) is taking a moment to celebrate a significant milestone: the Journeyman program’s 60^th anniversary.

On June 19, 1965, the Foreign Mission Board (now the IMB) began sending out the first participants in a brand-new, Peace Corps-inspired initiative known as the Journeyman program. Over the course of the following six decades, the program — created for young Southern Baptists between the ages of 21 and 29 to serve two-year missionary terms — sent out more than 6,500 young adults around the world with the gospel.

To mark the occasion, the IMB reached out to multiple former Journeymen — some who returned to serve as long-term missionaries and others who pursued a different path altogether when their terms ended — and asked them to reflect on the legacy and impact of the Journeyman program.

Many shared their time overseas was a season of deep spiritual growth as they learned to engage a lost world.

Like Alice Pettyjohn, who served in Thailand from 2003-2005. She remembered feeling awe as she witnessed God’s timing and provision on a daily basis during her Journeyman term.

“I had multiple moments when I was confident that only God had designed my interactions and meetings with people who wanted to hear who He is,” Pettyjohn said. “I think back to a train trip where I met a girl from my town. We kept getting interrupted, and I didn’t really get to share Jesus with her. I prayed that I would meet her again, and what do you know? She was on the train trip back. I was able to share with her and form a friendship with her. Months later she trusted Jesus as her Savior.”

Or like Linda Pegram, who was overwhelmed by the spiritual darkness she encountered during her two years in Vietnam from 1972-1974.

“It shocked my spiritual senses into action,” Pegram said. “My prayer life grew; my desire to see people freed from the fear of spirits and the worship that was so offensive to Holy God grew in my heart. I learned to care deeply for the Vietnamese. My gratitude to Jesus for paying the price for my sins grew. My appreciation for His love, His Word, His ways definitely increased.”

Like recently returned Journeyman Elisabeth Palmer, who served alongside long-term missionaries in northern Italy from 2022-2024.

“It was life-changing, worldview-shaping, heart-mending and taught me Jesus is more than enough for me, a friend who sticks closer than a brother,” Palmer said, adding she is already planning a return visit to Italy soon. “He is more than worth putting our ‘yes’ on the table of surrender to Him.”

Or like Cindy McClain, who served in Liberia from 1983-1985.

“Those two years were a time of expanding faith and reliance on God, expanding my worldview and expanding my understanding of God’s plan for the world,” McClain said.

Others noted that God used their Journeyman terms to grow their vision for reaching the nations and to call them to long-term missionary service. Historically, the IMB has seen more than 20% of Journeymen return to serve as long-term missionaries.

Like Abby Goforth and her husband, who were both Journeymen in East Asia during the early 2000s and now serve with their four children in the Asia-Pacific Rim.

“After we served our Journeyman terms, we were hooked!” Goforth said, adding they especially enjoy mentoring the young adults coming to serve alongside them now. “My husband and I use our own experiences as Journeymen to help lead this new generation of Journeymen on the field. It is such a privilege.”

Or like Mark W. Wakefield, who served in Guatemala, but initially wasn’t even sure he wanted to be a Journeyman.

“In 1999, I became a Journeyman and stepped out in faith to follow God for two years, which led to six years, then 10, and ultimately to discovering my true calling and passion,” Wakefield said. “I never imagined this life, but I am so thankful that God chose me, and I chose to faithfully follow Him.”

And like Pegram, who later returned overseas as a long-term IMB missionary after her Journeyman term in Vietnam ended.

“God used my Journeyman experience as a major part of my preparation for many more years in Asia,” Pegram said. “I’m so grateful IMB still has a Journeyman program — and God continues to use it to refine and equip a few of His children for His service overseas.”

As the IMB reflects on the legacy of the Journeyman program, it also considers the future.

Throughout its history, the program has continued to evolve, adjusting its expectations, training and job placements to best serve the changing needs of the global mission field and the young people who serve.

IMB leadership recently tapped missionary couple Andrew and Tracy Weir to fill a newly created role as global Journeyman coordinators. The Weirs, tasked with overseeing the growth and development of the Journeyman program, emphasized the importance of supporting Journeymen well while they serve.

“We want Journeymen to do hard things and to go to hard places and to do the core missionary task,” Andrew said. “But we also want them to be mentored and trained and taught along the way. These young people are our next generation of workers.”

The ultimate goal, said the Weirs, is for Journeymen to have a deeper love for Jesus than when they left, while engaging lostness and growing in their vision for a lost world. They desire to see every Journeyman finish their term well and return to the field as healthy and devoted sent ones, or to the U.S. as healthy, devoted senders.

Currently, 241 Journeymen serve overseas. To learn more about IMB’s Journeyman program, go here.