INDIANAPOLIS – During the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, North American Mission Board (NAMB) President Kevin Ezell featured stories from Canada and Michigan. Ezell introduced Michigan Baptist’s State Executive-Treasurer, Pastor Tim Patterson saying, “Michigan was the very first Send Network state, and is a state with 10,000,000 people and has a great need for the Gospel.” Ezell added, “Since 2010 they have added 137 new congregations, many of these are church plants and others are established churches that want to be part of what Southern Baptists are doing in Michigan.”
Patterson, who started his ministry with Michigan Baptists in the summer of 2015, and who intends to step down from Michigan’s leadership on December 31, 2024 to return to Florida explained how Michigan’s progress rests in the unity of the pastors and churches when he said, “Our pastors are focused, and they’re all in for the Gospel. That’s what I love about it. We’ve decided we can do a lot more together than we can by ourselves.” Patterson added, “As we’ve begun to have more enthusiasm and excitement about what God wants to do, our associations, our state, and our local churches have come together to truly make a Gospel impact. We call it punching holes in the darkness.”