New IMB president plans to live a Romans 15 life
Demi Blackmon, Managing Editor
On August 27, David Platt, 36, became the new Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) International Mission Board (IMB) president after serving as the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala. for eight years. He was chosen by the IMB trustees to succeed Tom Elliff, the IMB president since March 2011.
The IMB, a 169-year-old organization, has more than 4,800 Southern Baptist missionaries and is the largest denominational missionary-sending body among American evangelicals.
David Uth, trustee and search committee chairman of the IMB, said, “When we realized his sense of call, whether that meant serving as IMB president or going himself, we realized how passionate, how deeply committed and called he was to the nations.”
Taking the role of president, Platt plans to continue serving on mission trips. He is going on a trip to Asia to meet with missionaries to learn the most effective way to reach individuals who have never heard the name of Jesus.
“I want to lead the IMB and serve local churches in accomplishing the mission of Christ around the world,” said Platt in his video to Southern Baptist.
Platt plans to live a life reflecting Romans 15, where Paul says, “I want to see Christ preached where he has not been named.” He desires to reach the nearly 2 billion unreached people in the world.
“I want to ask that people pray for discernment as I’m listening. I need wisdom from God to see what He sees as He looks at the IMB now and the potential for what the IMB can become,” said Platt.
Platt has received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Georgia. He has also received his master of divinity, master of theology and doctor of philosophy degrees. Platt is the author of the bestselling books “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream” and “Follow Me.” He and his wife, Heather, have four children: Caleb, Joshua, Mara Ruth and Isaiah.
