World Mission Leaders To Meet at Finishing The Task Conference

March 8, 2007

Evangelical leaders from across the Southwest will meet on the Oklahoma Baptist University campus this spring for a regional Finishing The Task global missions conference.

OBU is hosting the Finishing The Task Conference April 19-21 in the university's Geiger Center.

"Finishing The Task is a powerful missions movement moment, with a passion to share the Gospel with the largest remaining unengaged and unreached people groups," said OBU President Mark Brister.

The April event in Shawnee will feature several internationally recognized evangelical leaders, including Dr. Henry Blackaby, author and founder of Blackaby Ministries International; and Dr. Jerry Rankin, president of Southern Baptists' International Mission Board.

Other conference speakers include Steve Douglass, president of Campus Crusade for Christ; Bob Creson, president of Wycliffe Bible Institute; Dr. Avery Willis, retired IMB senior vice president for overseas operations; Grant Lovejoy, IMB director of orality studies; and Paul Eshelman, Campus Crusade's vice president of global coverage.

The FTT Conference is designed to help local churches work with evangelical organizations in reaching more than 600 people groups who have not been introduced to the gospel of Christ, according to M.W., coordinator of OBU's Avery T. Willis Center for Global Outreach.

"Our intention through Finishing The Task is to help other institutions and churches consider connecting with other specific unreached peoples," said M.W.

The conference will begin at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, and conclude at noon on Saturday, April 21. Early registration, through March 29, is $99 per person. Registration after that date is $124 per person. Registration materials and a schedule of events are available at www.obu-go.org.

In January, OBU President Mark Brister traveled to India with a group of evangelical leaders to establish contact with the "Kai" people, one of the unengaged and unreached people groups. Dr. Brister announced in the fall that OBU was adopting the Kai people as part of the FTT effort.

Also in January, a team of OBU students, faculty and staff members visited the Kai people in two cities and four villages, asking questions, listening to their stories and learning about their needs.

"There are a few Kai believers among the three million total, but the few that exist are persecuted by other Indians for their faith," said Willis. "OBU has committed the next 20 years to engage the Kai people of India."

For more information about the conference, visit www.okbu.edu/go/ftt.html or contact M.W. at 405.878.2377.