RICHMOND, Va. — Together, the newest group of emeriti who gathered at International Mission Board’s (IMB) annual Celebration of Emeriti near Richmond on April 27-May 1, represent 1,818 years of service. They didn’t reach that milestone alone.

Among the 65 new emeriti who came to Virginia were Mick and Dalese Stockwell, who spent 30 years as IMB missionaries in Ukraine and Czech Republic.

Mick remembers feeling overwhelmed in the first years of their service in Ukraine. He stood atop a hill, overlooking a sprawling city of nearly 2 million people. When the sun shone over that hill onto the concrete apartment buildings, he said it looked like the fields “white for harvest” (John 4:35).

Mick and Dalese were the only IMB missionaries there at that time. How could they alone reach even part of this city, much less every building?

Mick prayed, “Lord, we can’t do this. But I believe that You can.”

That’s when something shifted for the Stockwells. They began focusing on empowering local partners, who proved incredibly effective in reaching their own people. They started working with volunteers from the U.S., who came to Ukraine to help with the work. Mick said he still considers them close friends today.

“We realized that it wasn’t about us and what we personally produce,” Mick said. “It’s about what we do to help our national partners either plant churches where they are or go into all the world and take their place next to us and sometimes ahead of us in places we can’t go.”

This is the heart behind IMB globalization strategies, partnering with and mobilizing Baptist missionaries from the nations to the nations. Other missionaries shared similar stories — in large and small group settings — of learning to rely on God and working closely with local partners to fulfill the missionary task.

The week’s sessions were developed to help the missionaries prepare for retirement, plan their next life stage, and consider how they would stay involved in the missionary task. The week’s events culminated with the Emeriti Celebration, where family and friends joined to recognize God’s work through the missionaries. At the celebration, IMB President Paul Chitwood preached from John 12 about Mary anointing Jesus with her costly offering — a pound of expensive perfume.

“Finding Him worthy, you took up your cross and followed Him to the very ends of the earth,” Chitwood said. “Finding Him worthy, you answered His call to die to self and go share His gospel. Finding Him worthy, you made sacrifices without considering them sacrificial. You carried burdens without considering them burdensome. You travelled miles without keeping track of the distance. You gave away your lives without giving thought to yourself. Jesus was worthy, and He is worthy — not of an ounce of perfume of your life but of the full pound, and you’ve lived your life honoring Him.”

Wednesday evening’s time of worship and recognition included emeriti sharing personal testimonies of God’s faithfulness during their years of missionary service.

Kevin and Suzie Rodgers described how they saw globalization accelerate in Zambia and Kenya, where they served for 27 years.

“In the past few years, Sub-Saharan Africa has become the center of Christianity, with more churches and believers than any other continent,” Suzie said. Kevin continued, “Now, IMB is equipping African churches to send African missionaries to the ends of the earth.”

They asked for prayer for the new African Missionary Training Center in Nairobi, Kenya, and their teammates they’re leaving behind who are training the next generation of African missionaries.

Guy and Elena Key spoke from the stage about how they saw God work mightily throughout their 40 years of serving Him, training the next generation of missionaries in Brazil. A girl in their children’s ministry grew up and became a doctor. Then she served with her husband in Central Asia, sharing the gospel with her patients. During their four decades in Brazil, they welcomed 2,500 Southern Baptist volunteers — each one multiplying gospel impact and extending their reach across the country.

“If we could, we would do it all over again,” Guy said.

Mark and Peggy Rutledge saw God transform their ministry by learning from and working together with IMB colleagues in other areas of service. The Rutledges served in Haiti for 38 years then for two years serving migrants near Mexico’s southern border. They started out as agricultural missionaries among rural Haitians. Early on, they met a challenge they hadn’t prepared for — many rural Haitians were nonliterate, and traditional Bible study methods were not working. Then they discovered chronological Bible storying, a Bible study method that IMB missionaries in Southeast Asia had been developing in the 1980s.

“It really fit in with the traditional Haitian ways of doing things because their normal teaching methods involve storytelling,” Peggy said. “We saw a massive change in people.”

As participants reflected on decades of running the race, they expressed gratitude for the support they received from Southern Baptist churches, IMB staff, and everyone who prayed for them and donated to IMB.

Speaking of the reality they faced when they began their 25-year service among Central Asians, Tim and Missy said, “No New Testaments, no full Bibles, no believers or leaders, and no churches. That was our life as we worked among Central Asian peoples these last 25 years.” Their last name was withheld for security, and their faces were not shown on the livestream of the event.

They concluded, “Now, full Bibles, many believers and baptisms, some churches and godly growing leaders. We are thankful to the Lord for all that He has allowed us to be a part of and thankful for you who have prayed for us and given to make this possible.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Emily Hall is a prayer content specialist for the IMB.)