By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
BATON ROUGE – The recent news of the International Mission Board offering some of their missionaries voluntary retirement has prompted a Louisiana Baptist business owner to hire one of them at his company.
Dustin Beebe, owner of ProSys, an engineering firm in Baton Rouge, told the Baptist Message that he plans to bring the missionary on board sometime next year, fulfilling a leading from the Holy Spirit to do his part in helping out a former co-worker in a time of need.
“What I would hate to see is these IMB missionaries who have been on the field so long are forgotten and we just leave them to drop,” said Beebe, a member of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. “They are in a tough situation and someone needs to step out.”
Although giving through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has been up and it has been receiving more from the Cooperative Program, the International Mission Board overspent revenues by more than $210 million since 2010.
Despite drawing down reserves and selling global properties, the nearly quarter of a billion dollars in overspending created a financial crisis that IMB leaders plan to meet by offering early retirement incentives to entice 600-800 experienced missionaries to leave the mission field, while still continuing to hire 300 new missionaries each year for two years.
The IMB reports that, currently, approximately 4,800 personnel serve as missionaries and 450 as staff.
The missionary, whom the Baptist Message can not identify due to security reasons, worked with Beebe at ProSys before leaving for the mission field in 2005. When Beebe heard the news, he talked with his former co-worker about the situation.
“He was very nervous about the future, but he had prayed and felt really confident,” Beebe said. “All their kids had transitioned to US, so they were at the point where they were in this country serving as just he and his wife.
“Then all of a sudden this happened to them,” he continued. “He reached out to me and said he needed a place to fall. It takes time to make the connections to get a job here in the US and that can be difficult when they need income after their service overseas is complete.”
Beebe then discussed the situation with Lewis Richerson, pastor of Woodlawn Baptist. The two agreed that the currency in the missionary’s country where he served was much less equal to that of the dollar and the skills used there would not marketable in many US companies.
However, because the missionary had a degree and prior experience in architecture, he was brought to Beebe’s mind with the idea of possibly bringing him back on board.
Still, Beebe wrestled with one question – was he causing problems or helping the missionary out?
“As a layperson I always thought this person was committing their lives to missions and they shouldn’t leave where they were serving, so I shouldn’t aid them in leaving that,” he recalled. “My initial thought was to stay over there. But then I approached Lewis and we came to the conclusion that I would be meeting this need for someone who had devoted so many years to serving the Lord.”
Richerson said this is a story of God’s providence and should serve as example to the larger body of Southern Baptist business owners who may be able to do the same.
“This is a situation that is commendable to other brothers and sisters,” Richerson said. “I am reminded in the scripture of Paul encouraging the Macedonian church. We are talking about brothers in Christ. Dustin and (his wife) Diana in this situation are embodying the position of brothers being generous to one another. The body of Christ primary benevolence ministry was to other brothers and sisters in the early church. And that was what drew others to faith in Christ. This should serve as an encouragement to other brothers in Christ and a gospel proclamation to the lost world.”