You may be asking, “What does Not Alone mean?” Or, more importantly, “What does Not Alone mean to me?” This is a theme we introduced through a Cooperative Program (CP) video last year, and it’s a theme we will be exploring over the next three years throughout the life of the SBC of Virginia.

Last year, the Innovative Faith Resources team produced a CP video that begins with a little boy talking about how dark and lonely the world is…but he knows there is hope, healing, and light. The boy is saving his money in a piggy bank to give to God and to others. The video ends with the boy reassured that when he gives to his local church, his contribution, though small, is added to the gifts of thousands upon thousands of other Southern Baptists through the Cooperative Program. That’s why he can say, “I’m not alone.” The purpose of the video was to show that Southern Baptists can do so much more together than we can ever do on our own. The Not Alone theme that started here in Virginia is now being utilized by the Southern Baptist Convention around the country to promote the Cooperative Program.

For a pastor who feels like he is on an island—ministering in a vacuum and unnoticed by the world—these two simple words can have significant meaning. To know he is not alone can mean the difference between surviving in ministry another year or, like so many others, forfeiting his calling for another profession or another place. The strength of the SBCV mission partnership can come alongside him with training, networking, fellowship, and so much more.

If you are in your 20s in the UK, there is a 97% chance that you have never met a follower of Jesus in your entire life.

As we seek to reach our world for Jesus Christ, we are Not Alone. With the sheer magnitude of worldwide lostness, it’s comforting to know no church is alone in reaching places like 

• Montreal, Quebec in Canada and Washington, DC through the North American Mission Board’s church planting effort, SEND NORTH AMERICA
• Barcelona, Sub-Saharan Africa, Greece, Germany, Nepal, Guam, and Lithuania through the SBC OF VIRGINIA ACTS 1:8 NETWORKS
• London, Dubai, and Chang Mai, through the INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD’S GLOBAL CITIES INITIATIVE

Not Alone isn’t limited to one meaning. Why? Because each of us has a different calling, ministry, and mission field. And that’s the beautiful thing about this mission fellowship we call the SBC of Virginia. God is bringing us together to reach our world for Christ and let the lost know that they too are Not Alone!