Antioch, Tennessee—On December 10-11, 2025, the IM board met together to celebrate how IM is advancing as we continue the mission of sharing the Gospel around the world together.
Tiffany Carpenter, from South Point, Ohio, was commissioned by the board to serve in Bulgaria for a two-year internship. She attends Laurel Free Will Baptist Church in West Virginia and is a recent graduate of Liberty University. Tiffany has spent significant time serving alongside IM missionaries in Pleven, Bulgaria, with the College Missions Program at IM. From going as a student to now being sent as a missionary, her heart for taking the Gospel to the Bulgarian people is evident in her response to the call to the field.
Jacob and Hailee Voltz recently returned to the States after serving in Bulgaria during their two-year internship and will return as career missionaries. Joining the board meeting via Zoom, they presented their plan to return to Bulgaria to focus heavily on language studies in addition to their ministry efforts.
Tim Awtrey, field leader for IM missionaries in Bulgaria, shares his excitement for Tiffany’s commissioning and the Voltz’s upcoming journey as career missionaries below.
Over the past two years, The Voltz have shown a servant’s heart in reaching out to Bulgarians with the Gospel, and we are excited that they will soon be returning to finish what they began. Second, we celebrate Tiffany Carpenter being approved for a two-year internship with IM Bulgaria. Tiffany has already had several stints in Bulgaria, and we are all excited to see how God will work in and through her as she serves the FWB churches in Bulgaria.
Hannah Goucher met with the board as a career missionary and shared her plans to return to Japan to continue her language studies and ministry in Hokkaido. Hannah’s ministry at New Life Church will resume as she focuses on building relationships with Japanese college students. Reflecting on his time spent with missionaries this year in Japan, Don Matchett, Director of Development, shared, “I recently visited Hannah in Hokkaido, Japan, and was genuinely touched by how wonderfully she’s doing there. Hannah has worked hard to learn the language quickly and form meaningful relationships wherever she goes. Her work in Japan is truly inspiring.”
God is moving among the Free Will Baptists across the country. This is clear at Cavanaugh Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where board member Will Harmon pastors. With excitement, Will presented a large check for $116,443 to the World Missions Offering. We are grateful to every individual, church, and organization that has partnered with IM and generously contributed to the WMO this year, supporting new missionaries, partnerships, and the General Fund.
As the student missions program continues to grow and thrive, equipping students with field-side ministry experience and discipling them year-round, Director of Mobilization Leslie Nichols announces that 62 students will participate in IM’s College Missions Program and 101 students will join ETEAM next summer. A key sign that these programs genuinely produce life change and ongoing engagement is that 18 seniors who participated in ETEAM in 2025, 14 will continue in short-term missions and serve as they join CMP in 2026. Our prayer is that these students continue to follow the Lord’s guidance.
Two new IMpact Projects were approved for future ministries:
- IMpact Project 2:2 – Evangelistic Narratives
- IMpact Kids and Family Ministry Japanese Resources Project for Japan
The IMpact Project 2:2 – Evangelistic Narratives project aims to provide an instruction manual as a simple tool for a more culturally appropriate method of evangelism through storytelling in the French language.
The IMpact Kids and Family Ministry Japanese Resources project will provide bilingual biblical resources to the Japanese, allowing missionaries to spend more time discipling families and less on translating resources.
The IM Board adopted an all-inclusive 2026 budget of $17,902,874.42, which includes missionaries, student ministries, stateside ministries, THP trips & projects, and IMpact projects.
Earlier this year, Clint Morgan, IM General Director, presented a strategic plan outlining IM’s 10-Year Horizon Goals:
1. Commission 100 new missionaries
2. Achieve IM’s three major financial goals
3. Double the number of FWBs outside of North America
In alignment with these goals, IM is committed and focused in every ministry, field, and partnership. As many answer the call to go, we could not continue the mission without those who send. Together—with our donors, missionaries, and churches—we will continue carrying the Light of Christ to the unreached.
IM labors with the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission.
December 12, 2025
