DALLAS — On June 10, Southern Baptists witnessed a demonstration of partnership and purpose at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting as the work of Send Relief — a collaborative compassion ministry between the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the International Mission Board (IMB) — took center stage.

During the Tuesday morning segment, NAMB President Kevin Ezell and IMB President Paul Chitwood underscored how this five-year-old partnership has grown into a global force for gospel-centered compassion and eternal impact.

“Thank you for how you continually affirm and celebrate IMB and NAMB coming together to minister through Send Relief,” Ezell said. “We really are better together.”

Meaningful mission trips that meet needs and change lives

“Send Relief is your global compassion ministry,” Chitwood told the audience. “The partnership between the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, through which Southern Baptists are bringing help and hope in North American and to the very ends of the earth, is a unique partnership. It’s an historic partnership, a partnership that is making an incredible gospel impact.”

“The way you give, pray, send and go,” said Chitwood, “makes possible this work that is changing lives every day all around the world.”

Chitwood’s wife, Michelle, and Ezell’s wife, Lynette, joined them on the stage to share firsthand about their own experiences serving with other ministers’ wives on a mission trip overseas to encourage others to consider taking similar trips to meet needs and share the gospel.

“It was such a blessing,” said Michelle. “It was so beautiful how God orchestrated everything, because some of the ladies had skill sets that I did not have. … God knew who was going to be (serving on the trip).”

Lynette added, “One day, they took us way out into the bush, found this little village of children who were being discipled for Jesus, singing their Bible songs, hearing about the Lord.”

Yet, those children did not have regular meals, but through Send Relief and the generous gifts spurred on by the trip participants, they were provided food. The donations guaranteed a healthy meal each week, and Send Relief is now helping the investment become sustainable through community gardens.

Ezell encouraged churches to step into hands-on ministry by serving through Send Relief’s mission trips — whether at Ministry Centers across North America or on global trips that meet urgent needs and open doors for the gospel.

“Everyone here can be a part of a trip. They can take their people and be a part of a trip,” Ezell said. “This is all very doable for you. It’s one thing to talk about missions and one thing to give to missions, but to experience it, that will energize your giving and your going.”

In the past year alone, Chitwood said, more than 6,000 churches participated in ministry opportunities, and 53,000 volunteers had been mobilized through Send Relief. As a result, help and hope arrived to more than 2 million people and led more than 74,000 people to trust in Christ.

Disaster response leads to gospel conversations

A number of other volunteers were mobilized through 42 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) state teams.

“We are so incredibly thankful for the privilege that Send Relief has to partner with our long-standing disaster relief ministries,” Chitwood said.

“Those gold shirts and hats have been a visible sign of relief for just about every major disaster on the continent for decades,” said Ezell. “Southern Baptist Disaster Relief truly is the gold standard of disaster relief, but they’re not just known for rapid, massive responses. They’re known for carrying gospel-centered response.”

Global Hunger Relief ministers to physical and spiritual needs

Southern Baptists are rallying together to confront one of the world’s most urgent needs that, Chitwood said, rarely makes the news: global hunger. Through the Global Hunger Relief fund, vulnerable communities are receiving life-sustaining food and support, creating powerful opportunities to share the hope of the gospel through compassionate, hands-on care.

Chitwood invited churches to join the global response through Global Hunger Sunday, an annual opportunity for Southern Baptists to support sustainable, gospel-centered solutions to food insecurity.

“As the needs continue to grow, I want to encourage you to give more generously this year. If your church hasn’t been observing Global Hunger Relief Sunday, please do that,” Chitwood said. “August is the designated month, but you can give any time of the year. These funds are used by a host of state conventions and national and international ministries to meet the needs on the ground.”

Chitwood closed the presentation by explaining how the SBC’s Cooperative Program (CP) goes to support Send Relief, not as a line item in the CP budget, but as resources designated in IMB and NAMB’s budgets for compassion ministry that give Send Relief the financial foundation it needs to thrive.

“As we close, all I want to say is, ‘Thank you,’” Chitwood said. “Thank you for your generous giving through the Cooperative Program that allows … us to have a global compassion ministry like Send Relief to make an eternal impact around the world.”