LONDON—As soon as Amanda McCoy speaks, her new coworkers in London know that “she’s not from around here.”

“The people here love my southern accent,” said McCoy, calling it “an instant segue into having conversations with people.”

McCoy, from Knoxville, Tenn., began a job in London in August and became the first business professional to participate in the Southern Baptist International Mission Board’s Global Cities Initiative as a “mobilized Christian.”

The GCI is an emphasis on reaching the world’s major global urban centers where more than half of the world’s population lives. The IMB has selected five cities initially: London, Dubai, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and a major city in South Asia.

The IMB’s new strategy is to engage Southern Baptists from all backgrounds (students, retirees, business professionals, etc.) in missions efforts overseas.

Business professionals such as McCoy are encouraged to find a job in one of the five global cities. A nuclear medicine radiographer, she became employed in London. The employer worked out all the details including her visa. What’s more, she is self-supported by her job.

GCI makes sense for business professionals who feel called missionally, McCoy said. “Why not leverage your education and the experience God has allowed you to obtain for the sake of the Gospel?” she asked. “It’s a fabulous idea.”

McCoy, a member of Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, originally wanted to serve in Brazil before God closed that door. Then she lost her job.

She credits God for introducing her to GCI and to London. “As much as I had a heart for Brazil, God completely opened the door for me to come here,” she said.

In settling into a new job and a new culture, McCoy feels blessed to have a team of missionaries in London to work with. “I have leaned on them for advice on different matters,” she affirmed, appreciating the help of “seasoned people who have been here.”

She said team members and the training she received for GCI helped prepare her for a different culture than what she was used to in east Tennessee. “I’ve struggled in some ways, but I just ’pulled up my bootstraps’ and pressed on,” she said.

McCoy said she would not consider herself a missionary. “I’m just a regular person in the workplace called to do what Jesus has called us all to do — to go and make disciples.”

She is finding out firsthand that London truly is “the Capital of the World” as the city likes to describe itself. On a recent walk in her community she heard a number of different languages spoken.

McCoy does not hesitate to share her faith with whomever she comes into contact. “I don’t hide what I do. They (coworkers) know I came to work with missionaries in the city.”

A “people person,” McCoy already has made friends with Muslims and people from different walks of life. “It’s been so fascinating,” she said.

Honored to be the first GCI professional in London, McCoy said she hopes to be “a positive example of how this can be effective on the mission field.” (BP)