Southwest Christian Church: A Legacy of Global Mission
Southwest Christian Church in Newnan, Georgia, has been faithfully participating in God’s global mission for generations. Their story is one of consistent generosity, courageous sending, and quiet but far-reaching influence.
Since 1985, Southwest has given more than $1.6 million through CMF International, launching and sustaining ministries on nearly every continent. They were there in the early days of CMF’s work in Brazil, Kenya, and Ivory Coast, helping pioneer efforts that continue to bear fruit today. Beyond financial support, Southwest has raised up CMF missionaries from within its own congregation—servants like Jonathan and Heather Powell, Greg and Allison Coley, Christine Barber, Robert and Natalie Braden, Garrett Harper and Skyler Habowski, Donovan and Erin Harper, and now Gavin and Erica Sain, preparing to serve in Puebla, Mexico.
Southwest’s influence has rippled far beyond what anyone could imagine. One example: Martha Wade, one of Southwest’s earliest long-term missionaries, left in 1980 to translate the Bible for the Apal people of Papua New Guinea. After more than forty years of work, the full New Testament—and Genesis and Exodus—were published in 2023. Her dedication inspired countless others, including CMF’s Executive Director, Kip Lines, who shared how Wade’s example shaped he and his wife Katy's own call to serve in Kenya.
Southwest also made history in 1999 by giving the first-ever gift to CMF’s Globalscope campus ministry program, even before its official launch. Today, Globalscope ministers to university students in Mexico, Chile, England, Thailand, Uruguay, and Germany—thanks in part to Southwest’s early vision to support those ministries.
Every gift, every prayer, every missionary sent from this congregation has created “Good News Ripples” that continue to spread across the globe. From churches planted among the Maasai in Kenya to students introduced to Jesus in Europe and Latin America, Southwest’s faithfulness has multiplied mission.
As Kip Lines shared, “Local churches like Southwest are still God’s chosen instrument for global mission.” Their commitment reminds us that the good news of Jesus is for all people, everywhere.
Thank you, Southwest Christian Church, for your decades of partnership. You haven’t just supported missionaries—you’ve multiplied mission.
The top photo features the mission wall at Southwest and their commitment to global missions.