Cloud of Witnesses – Celebrating 210^th Anniversary of International Ministries

Rev. Dr. K. Imotemjen (Imo) Aier and Mrs. Arenmongla (Arenla) Aier

Retired missionaries of International Ministries,

We are blessed by American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS, aka International Ministries/ IM) and their missionaries. God has blessed my family and ministry to transform lives and bless India.

Our relationship with IM began in 1967 when I joined the Council of Baptist Churches in North East India (CBCNEI) and served as the General Secretary until 1988. After serving CBCNEI for nearly 22 glorious years, my wife and I were invited by IM as special missionaries to the American Baptist Churches, USA.  The missionary title was the same but our assignments were different from fellow missionaries. Not for soul winning, but to share our witness and God’s mighty work in India with American Baptists – we are the product of your past laborers – do not go slow, but increase and strengthen the efforts to expand the Kingdom of God around the world. That was the main message we conveyed to the American Baptists and their congregations, camps, and regions in 20 states of the USA.

In 1991, we were sent as mission consultants from the USA to India to serve in East India. The convention we served was later renamed as Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Churches Association (BOBBCA) stationed in Balasore, Odisha, India. We served in various capacities including Consultants to BOBBC from January 1991 to July 1995; Commissioned as IM Missionaries on August 2^nd, 1995, at the World Mission Conference at Green Lake, Wisconsin; and then I, Imo served as IM India Power of Attorney till April 2019, and we retired in 2000.

During the 10 years of our ministries in BOBBCA, we undertook activities such as:

• The old constitutions of the convention were updated.
• Trained leaders were installed, and old-aged staff were replaced.
• Leadership training in different categories.
• Training camps.
• Soul-winning camps and revival programs.
• Initiation of Pastor’s Wife Retreat Program.
• Stewardship programs conducted in different areas of the convention.
• Establishment of Galuksai Santal Mission School, Galuksai Village, West Midnapore, West Bengal.
• Revival of the nearly defunct Balasore Technical School, Balasore, Odisha.

We continued serving in the BOB field through 2001. It was a tough job to serve as the Power of Attorney. I formed a special team represented by IM staff and local leaders to successfully settle quite a number of property and legal issues. In 2019, at the age of 88, I retired with joy and thanksgiving.

In all these assignments, most were with joy and others with challenges. we along with our family, guided by God’s omnipotent presence and wonderful blessings, have had the privilege to experience the love, support, and generosity of the Baptist family and especially fellow American Baptist Christians with much thanksgiving and praise. In all of our assignments, we learned and gained more than giving and offering to the people and churches we served. God is great all the time.

*Ben Chan: Special thanks to Cathy Holmes for proof-reading the article.