By Staff, Baptist Message RIDGECREST, N.C. (LBM) – During their Sept. 11-13 meeting at the Ridgecrest Conference Center near Ashville, N.C., International Mission Board trustees approved new personnel and passed the 2017-2018 budget. The 51 missionaries who were appointed represent churches in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The overseas missionary force totaled 3,612 as of the end of the trustee meeting, up from the 3,596 numbered at the end of 2016. Meanwhile trustees approved a budget of $262 million, down from last year’s $270 million financial plan. The budget projects Lottie Moon Christmas Offering receipts at $153 million for 2017-18, similar to actual receipts for 2016-2017. The budget is based on a new fiscal year, Oct. 1, 2017-Sept. 30, 2018, which aligns IMB’s financial year with other SBC entities. Trustees also welcomed 11 new colleagues elected in June during the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Phoenix: Joel Bundick, pastor of Community of Grace church in Aurora, Colo.; Jim Crockett, president of R1 Ministries and member of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, … [Read more...]