mission:world | Global Focus

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BY: PHIL KNOTT | MISSIONS

“I

n a small village in northern Ghana, I sat and talked for a while with a group of men gathered under a thatched-roof pavilion near the center of the village. Apparently it was the daily gathering place. The constant chatter, although unknown to me, was very lively and animated. The place also served as a welcome refuge from the scorching sun and dry winds of the afternoon. Some sat while others reclined on log benches worn slick by years of use. Overall, it was kind of relaxing.

As I sat there, the thought came to me about just how distant their culture was from mine. It also occurred to me how far I had come in my own life and missionary experience to be there at that moment and time. More important, though, was just how far the gospel had come. Just a little ways down the trail from where we sat was a church, a beacon of light and hope, an outpost in Christ’s kingdom.

There are many such villages in Ghana, thousands of them, and all throughout Africa. I’m reminded of Robert Moffat’s quote, “In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.” Moffat helped inspire David Livingstone and left a legacy of global missions that has moved many to answer the call to missionary service.

God’s global mission, the theme of this Mission:World issue, is nothing new. When Paul

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wrote to the churches in Rome, he added, “I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain” (Romans 15:20). In first century missions, there was a global vision, always pressing toward the regions beyond where Christ was not named. David Hesselgrave, one of the foremost missiologists of our time, states, “The greatest concern in global missions is not methodology but theology. By its nature, biblical mission entails clear biblical priorities” (Evangelical Mission in 2001--Who Will Set the Agenda?).

History is actually “His Story”, and, of course, Christ is the center, the focal point. God’s global mission to make him known is the real stage upon which history plays out. I pray you will be inspired by the articles in this Mission:World and a get a sense of God’s heart for the nations.

mission:world (USPS 575-320) Volume 3 - Issue 3 May-June 2015 www.bmaamerica.org

Contents

Editor Donny Parrish Managing Editor Phillip Rice Design & Layout Jared Eakin Published bimonthly by the Baptist Missionary Association of America, 611 Locust Street Conway, AR 72034 Entered as Periodical Rate at Conway, Arkansas.

Periodical Postage paid at Conway, Arkansas and at additional mailing offices.

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IMPROVE YOUR GLOBAL FOCUS A look at how you and your church can become mission focused.

POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Mission:World P.O. Box 1188 Conway, Arkansas 72033 501.329.6891 Email missionworld@bmaamerica.org Website www.bmaamerica.org Subscription rate is $7.50 per year 65 and older, $1.00 per year Church Plan, 50 cents per month per family

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NEW MISSIONAIRES Learn about and hear from the newest BMA missionaires.

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GREAT COMMISSION WORK A look at how DiscipleGuide is approaching mission work.

Lifeword.....................................................................8-11 DiscipleGuide............................................................12-15 Seminary...................................................................16-19 For contact info, websites, and more on the BMA family of ministries, visit BMALife.com

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R U O Y E S V U O C R O P F “O IM BAL O L G BY: JOHN DAVID SMITH | MISSIONS

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ne of the key values for BMA Missions is, “the local church must be the center of the BMA Missions universe, not the missions office.”

This statement is usually followed up by, “churches reproduce, missions

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offices do not.”

For Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA) churches, this has to be more than a mere yawnprovoking platitude or obligatory statement from our traditional theological stance on the church. This article on global focus will offer a view of current trends in global missions from 30,000 feet; however, the emphasis of the article will be on the global focus of your church.

Eric Swanson provides great insight to our high-altitude view of global missions through the results of his thorough research into some of the current trends in missions. In 1900, 34% of the world’s population indicated that they were Christian. That was roughly 1.65 billion people. Today, a much greater number would indicate that they are Christian, but it would still be 34% of the population. The percentage has not changed.

Urbanization would be one of the foremost trends in global missions. The world is continuing to migrate to the cities. China now has upwards of 160 cities with a population of 1 million; contrast that with the United States that has nine.

Someone stated very well, “The Bible may begin in a garden, but it ends in a city.”

Reciprocity is another huge issue in global missions. This basically means that believers in the West are far outnumbered by believers in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other parts of the globe. Believers in the West are going to have to see that those believers are the leaders now in

their regions of the world. Western missionaries will now serve under and alongside missionaries from those areas. Reciprocity is the attitude that we can learn from, and serve under, leaders from other countries.

Partnership is the act of joining them on mission. Increasingly, global missions will be defined by churches in the West partnering with likeminded believers in other parts of the world. BMA Missions has always been oriented toward working through national partners. As long as we form

these partnerships in a manner that avoids paternalism and dependence, this will continue to be an effective means for reaching the world.

Another trend that will help define the future path of global missions includes holistic missions.

This is where the gospel and social action converge. In this formula, the social action can never be allowed to become an end unto itself.

The goal is the transformation of lives through the preaching of the gospel and the planting of vibrant,

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multiplying churches. Meeting the needs of people becomes a visible expression of the love of Christ and an invaluable platform for building relationships necessary to the communication of the gospel.

Other important elements of global missions that will mark the path in the future are: greater financial accountability, Business as Mission, and technology. In these new partnerships, the people on the ground will have greater freedom in the development of their budgets and financial decisions; this will come with a greater degree of accountability for the use of those funds. It has been stated that Business as Mission usually takes one of three positions: Job-fakers are those who simply use “business” as a cover to be in a country, Job-takers are those who do jobs that nationals 6 ::: May - June 2015 | mission:world

could do, and Job-makers are those who create jobs and livelihoods for local people. Certainly job-making is the option that BMA Missions wants to facilitate. Technology, through low-power FM radio stations, new communication satellites, and all forms of social media will continue to develop and become more and more effective tools in global missions.

That is all good information, but what about your Global Focus?

Missions cannot be an activity of your church; it must be the identity of your church! In order to measure the effectiveness of our global focus, it is necessary to define three key terms: mission, missions, and church. Mission is the selfglorifying character of God that proclaims that all things were made

by Him and for Him. Our greatest

motive in mission is to make God’s name known to the nations…

ALL for His glory. Missions is defined as every attempt that we make to fulfill this mission of God. That would include evangelism, church planting, discipleship, feeding programs, orphanages, leadership development etc. Darrin Patrick helps us as we build off his definition of a church with the following: a church is a body of regenerate people, baptized, who gather to worship God, obey the commands of Christ, and SCATTER to make His name known to the nations. We are quick to defend our church’s sound doctrine and quicker to get defensive about why our church has never scattered to make God’s name known near or far.

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Signs that your church’s global focus may be quite blurred: 1. You have used an increasingly threatening world as an excuse to hide and survive instead of engage and transform.

2. You have allowed sound doctrine and good fellowship to be the sole measurements of your church in an attempt to excuse your lack of mission.

3. You have overly invested in the “stuff ” of cultural Christianity (elaborate buildings, gadgets, and possessions) to the neglect of missions giving and missions activity.

4. You celebrate the number of years you have existed or your Sunday morning attendance way more than the number of churches you have started.

5. You do not know the name of one missionary or church planter your church supports nor one of their needs.

The ability to allow God’s word and the Holy Spirit to be our corrective lenses when it comes to our distorted global focus begins with embracing the points we discussed earlier in this article.

We exist for God’s glory, and our greatest motive in mission is to make His name known! Missions is deeply connected to mission; it is not about self-fulfillment or me “finding my place.” It is about being obedient to take the message of salvation to the world through all possible means.

The last major piece of the puzzle is to see the church as both the driving force behind missions and the goal of missions. Churches send missionaries in order to start new, multiplying churches.

Some practical steps that you can follow to help bring your church’s global missions strategy into focus include:

1

Be informed as to what your church is really doing in missions. Subscribe to

Mission:World magazine (www. missionworldmag.com). Invite a missionary to speak at your church.

Invite a missions leader to speak at your church. Attend the BMAA national meeting in April of each year. Read up-to-date missions information on www.bmamissions. org; www.bmalife.com; and on Facebook (BMAA Missions).

2

Contribute monthly to BMA Missions, Lifeword, and your respective state missions department. Go the extra mile in your giving on World Missions Day and Lifeword Sunday. Contact BMA Missions for more information (501-455-4977).

3

Emphasize the biblical foundations of missions for a couple of months in preaching and Bible studies.

4

Identify potential ministry partners among the many church planters and missionaries supported through our association.

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Adopt a project in addition to your regular missions giving.

Partner with a group of churches in a location to plant more churches in that region.

7

Seek to plant a church in the United States.

By improving your global focus, your entire congregation can be infused with missionary passion, you can involve people in your church who have never been involved, you can use your congregation’s unique skills and interests, you can increase prayer and giving for missions, and you can determine to make a strategic impact for a prolonged number of years. In 2015 we plan to send and support more missionaries to places like Bangladesh, Estonia, Japan, and Singapore. Our need is evident…let’s get focused!

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LIFEWORD COMMUNITY RADIO

New technologies are extending Lifeword’s reach further than ever before

BY: RICK RUSSELL | LIFEWORD

The first time I remember hearing the radio was 1957 and I was four years old. No doubt I had heard it before, but the first time radio really made an impression on me our family was on vacation driving across the eastern plains of Colorado into the sunset. Once the blinding light of the sun had disappeared behind the outline of the Rockies, Dad turned on the radio and adjusted the tuner. A booming voice filled the car and kept us smiling and tapping our feet to the music of the Crew Cuts, Rosemary Clooney and the Chordettes as we trundled through the night. It was many years before I realized that wonderful music and banter had traveled more than 400 miles—all the way from WHB 710 AM in Kansas City—in order to permeate our Chevy and keep us entertained that evening.

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internet, Lifeword broadcasts can originate here in Conway, Arkansas, and be heard simultaneously in Houston, Los Angeles, Australia and even in La Paz, Peru…

“In 2001 I worked for a chain of pharmacies. Later I left my hometown in Peru and went to work in a different city where later I was leading an entire chain of pharmacies.

However, without God, I was wasting my life away, living in adultery and a lifestyle that would not be appropriate to write about here. I was coming home to my family only once per month and was lying to my family by leading a double life. In 2003 my wife started going to a Christian church with my son and began praying for my return. And I did return, but I returned to prohibit them from going to church. I told them that they did

not need to go to that Christian church, in fact God was everywhere.

But if they did go, they needed to go to the Catholic Church. I’ve been such a fool. I have dishonored my father and family. I have been such a fool. I am now listening to your program [El Contacto Cristiano]. What must I do obtain peace with God?” – L. Sanchez, Peru Sr. Sanchez listens to Lifeword’s Spanish radio broadcasts in a Peruvian city where Lifeword does not have any programs on the radio. Like a growing number of people around the world, he listens to the radio without using a radio— probably on his mobile phone or tablet computer.

lifeword

For years I have used my cellphone more as a radio than as a telephone. Maybe you do, too.

Millions of us listen to music on Pandora or Spotify. Millions more use iHeartRadio, Tune-In Radio or another application to hear our favorite local radio personalities even when we are thousands of miles away from their actual AM or FM radio signals. (In fact, you can hear a Lifeword radio spot in English right now by checking out the following link: http://m. oneplace.com/ministries/life-word/) That’s what Sr. Sanchez does.

He opens an app or goes to www.oneplace.com or www.

elsitiocristiano.com, taps his favorites list and hermanos Ricardo (Robinson) and Luis (Ortega) instantly appear with another hearty, spiritual feast, served up on demand and ready to be piped directly into his car audio system or earphones. And when the teaching comes to an end, Sr. Sanchez is offered a free correspondence course to help him understand his Bible better and use it to find his way to God and a life of peace, purpose and meaning. Phone, text and SMS numbers are also shared, because everyone is a little different in the way they are most comfortable meeting God. Some like to seek Him out on their own, guided mostly by good printed materials and the Good Book. Others prefer to have someone they trust take the Bible and make the introductions a little more formally. Regardless of how we come, God wants to meet each and every one of us.

One of the most exciting things about being part of Lifeword Media Ministries in 2015 is the tantalizing prospect that very soon the opportunity to present the gospel to practically everyone on earth will be within reach!

Technically speaking, it would be possible to reach nearly everyone now—if we had enough money. Problem is—we don’t. The

media bills would be absolutely astronomical to buy air time on tens of thousands of radio stations around the world to reach everyone. And even then, we could actually only reach the ones who speak one of Lifeword’s thirty-six languages. The really challenging part would be finding and engaging the program producers to speak the 6,000 languages spoken by the world’s people groups. (The number drops to 300 if you only count those languages that have more than a million speakers. Those 300 languages would get you to about 97% of the world’s people.)

But it’s taken Lifeword nearly fifty years to get to thirty-six languages.

Just adding 264 more would be a herculean task.

So that means that it just can’t be done, right?

No. It just means our tactics must be adjusted.

While it’s not possible at this moment in time to broadcast the gospel to every soul in a language he can understand, God has recently given us some insight to understand that it really is within the realm of possibility to see how He could bring things to pass over the next few years that will actually make it possible to get this job accomplished.

If you’ve been reading Lifeword’s mail over the past five years, you have heard us talk about O3b, a new low-altitude satellite technology that is being bankrolled by Google and several major international banks and telecoms. The company’s stated goal is to bring fast, inexpensive broadband internet service to the “Other 3 billion” who don’t have it now. (When the effort began in 2007, there were three billion unserved people. Today, the broadband-less number has grown to four billion!)

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lifeword So, what’s in it for Google, the banks and the telecoms? Four billion more shoppers, depositors and mobile phone subscribers. In short, more money!

What’s in it for Lifeword? A realistic opportunity to reach the entire world with the gospel message!

When will O3b become a reality?

It’s here now. Eighteen months ago the company’s first four satellites went into orbit. Four more were launched last summer. And last December 18, four more were placed into Medium Earth Orbit, giving the company a fully-functioning, worldwide constellation of twelve satellites that is already providing far-flung mobile phone companies, cruise ships and oil and gas exploration companies

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with four times the bandwidth, fiberoptic speeds and significantly lower costs than the older high-altitude geosynchronous orbit satellite technology can provide.

Mobile phones are already nearly ubiquitous among all but the most remote and underdeveloped people groups of the world. Before long, O3b will make truly affordable internet access available to those phones. And Lifeword plans to use those twentyfirst century “radios” to share the gospel with billions who have never had an opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel.

But there’s still that language hurdle. How will we ever overcome that? God is showing us how that can

happen as well. On our first foray into northern Ghana, West Africa, last January, International Missions Director Phil Knott and I were traveling with veteran missionaries Dale and Celia Broom and Hayford Jackson, Lifeword’s visionary leader for Community (Low Power FM or LPFM) Radio in Ghana. As they introduced us to some of the BMA Africa pastors in Walewale, Wulugu, Nangodi and other towns and villages, something astounding happened, something that Lifeword programmers have dreamed of for years. We discovered that Lifeword’s new Community Radio stations there have added at least two new dialects to Lifeword’s language list without a single one of us programming

wizards in our USA or regional offices having a thing to do with it! It was all the doing of our local broadcasters there in Wulugu and Nangodi.

God is now making His name famous in Mampruli and Nabit— two languages that, until last week, we had never even heard of.

We have hoped that as the reach of Lifeword Community Radio stations extend deeper and deeper into the world’s indigenous cultures, adding new languages would simply become a natural byproduct of the process. Now we have proof that God is making it happen!

Our immediate challenge, then, is to devise systems to speed up and simplify the process of establishing Community Radio stations around the world and training indigenous personnel to run them and to collect and archive all the new radio programs that those new broadcasters create.

Then, over the next few years, when O3b brings inexpensive broadband internet access into the areas where we have church-based radio stations, we will already have hours and hours of indigenous programs available in many of the languages spoken there. Using that programming and the well-trained broadcasters that Community Radio will have already developed, we will program a 24/7 internet radio station in each language— stations that will not be bound by the five to seven mile radius of Community (LPFM) Radio, but will truly permeate the world and share the grace of God with anyone who speaks that language… literally anywhere in the world!

They’re Listening—but Sometimes Not the Way you Might Expect From Peru, Senor Sanchez’ (see accompanying article) regularly listens to the Bible teaching of “Hermano Ricardo”*. Trouble is, El Contacto Cristiano doesn’t have any radio station affiliates in Peru.

So, how does he hear the program? In the old days, someone would have guessed, “short wave?” You younger readers may not remember the magic of scanning the shortwave band after sundown to hear news reports, music and interesting programs from the BBC, the Voice of America Radio Moscow, Radio Johannesburg, HCJB from Quito, Ecuador, and a hundred more—but your great-grandparents certainly do. Well, Sr. Sanchez listens on what might be called a modern version of the shortwave radio—a device known to you as…a smartphone!

Your internet-connected computer, mobile phone or other device literally puts the world in the palm of your hand. Using apps such as Tune-In Radio, Live365, Radionomy and iHeartRadio, your favorite radio stations are instantly available, even when you are on the other side of the world, in crystal-clear stereo! Other apps like Stitcher and OnePlace do the same thing with the individual radio programs that you love such as Ravi Zacharias, Chuck Swindoll…and Lifeword.

The number of people using their phones as radios is still quite insignificant. But don’t expect it to stay that way long. As the cost of streaming data to mobile devices continues to fall, we will see major shifts in the technology people use to get their news and entertainment. But don’t look for your favorite local AM and FM radio stations to disappear. Everybody thought a newfangled thing called television would kill both the movies and radio when it became mainstream back in the mid 1950’s. But 65 years down the line all three are still going strong. Radio reinvented itself in the 50’s and you can expect both radio and TV both go through some extensive reinvention over the next few years. Eventually, we expect the internet to become the primary distribution method for nearly all of Lifeword’s gospel programming around the world.

But enough about the dreams of the future. Let’s look at the present reality of internet radio as it applies to three Lifeword programs which have a strong presence there now. Around the world, Lifeword’s long and short format Spanish, and short form English broadcasts can be heard simply by using a computer or mobile device to “dial in” www.elsitocristiano.com or www.oneplace. com at any time, day or night. Once there, simply enter “Lifeword” or “El Contacto Cristiano” into the search engine and you can instantly hear Lifeword’s English or Spanish programming on demand.

So, in addition to the hundreds of thousands who can hear Lifeword’s programs on about 500 AM and FM radio stations across North and Latin America, we are also developing a significant online listenership.

BY: SCOTT ATTEBERY | DISCIPLEGUIDE

DISCIPLEGUIDE HELPS CHURCHES REACH THEIR KINGDOM POTENTIAL

“T

he Great Commission has at least three key points of emphasis: 1. A Discipleship emphasis (…make disciples…)

2. A Global emphasis (…of all nations…)

3. A Local Congregation emphasis (…baptizing them…)

These three points of emphasis are not a checklist of tasks to be performed in order. It is not as if we are to first make disciples, then go to the nations, then establish churches. Rather, these three points of

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emphasis work together simultaneously. When any of the three are emphasized over the others, an imbalance occurs and the Great Commission is not being accomplished.

For instance, if missions is emphasized over discipleship, we may win souls and yet never see them grow into Christ-like believers. Likewise, if missions is emphasized over the church, the missions will become unsustainable and unsupported.

DISCIPLEGUIDE

The same could be said of discipleship endeavors that do not emphasize the church or missions. Without assimilating the disciple into a local, New Testament church, the discipleship is lacking in accountability and longevity.

Without investing a global vision into the disciple, the long-term effect may remain local and never make an impact on the nations.

Further, when churches are inwardly-focused and neglect global missions, they deny their very calling and squelch the moving of the Holy Spirit.

And, when churches avoid the responsibility to make disciples, they fail to pass on the baton of faith handed to them by the previous generation.

A Great Commission church, on the other hand, will emphasize discipleship, mission, and the church simultaneously. Such a ministry not only reflects the Great Commission, but obeys the Great Commission as well.

THE DISCIPLESHIP EMPHASIS

The command of the Great Commission is to “make disciples.” Everything else describes how to go about the task.

For instance, when Jesus said, “Go,” it wasn’t because the disciples were idle. They were already going. Instead, He was telling them what to do as they were going.

Jesus knew the disciples would come into contact with people everywhere they went. Like us, they were going to work, going to the market, and going to visit friends. Every person we encounter in life is a potential disciple.

Churches must not fall into a “wait until they come to us” mentality. Instead, disciple-makers must “seek out” opportunities to invest in others. That’s the idea of go.

But what exactly is a disciple to begin with? A disciple is a learner who becomes like his/her teacher.

When Jesus commissioned the apostles, they knew exactly what He meant by the word disciple because Jesus had discipled them.

Christ’s method of discipleship went beyond sharing information. Jesus transformed the apostles by sharing His life with them. That is what He calls us to: life-on-life training, pouring ourselves into others.

If we want to see real change in our disciples’ lives, we must open our houses, simplify our calendars, share our possessions, and offer our attention. Consistent interaction is required for iron to sharpen iron.

Discipleship goes beyond telling someone how they should act; it’s spending enough time together that they can watch how you react. It’s more than telling people how to think, but letting them watch you process a situation. It’s weightier than describing the character of Christ; it’s displaying the character of Christ. All of life is a learning opportunity and as a general rule, more is caught than taught.

As you pour your life into others your efforts are multiplied and each disciple becomes a part of your spiritual legacy. And as your spiritual legacy grows and multiplies, it combines with other legacies until disciples are made in all nations.

Our hearts must be set on continuing the work of discipleship until disciples are made of all nations. Short of this, our work is not complete.

Christ’s goal is both ambitious and attainable through the work of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8, Jesus prophesied,

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DISCIPLEGUIDE “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

When Christ returns, He will completely rule every tribe, tongue and nation (not just some tribes, many tongues, or most nations)!

Interestingly, the church is the only institution to which Christ gave the Great Commission. Only the church is qualified, called, and equipped to make new disciples, provide them with nurture, and then send them out to make more disciples. And when those new disciples are made, new churches are formed to nurture and send them as well.

Christ’s plan for perpetuating the work to completion runs directly through local churches. This is seen in the phrase “baptizing them.”

THE LOCAL CONGREGATION EMPHASIS

The ceremony of baptism began long before Christ came to earth. It symbolized a person’s complete immersion into a way of life. It pictures the old man being buried and the new man being raised to life as a new creation in Christ.

For believers, baptism is a public proclamation of a person’s commitment to follow Christ on a life-long journey of transformation. Baptism is the entry point toward church membership. By identifying with a local church through immersion, the disciple is pledging a commitment to Christ and to His Great Commission.

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The church, therefore, becomes a community of disciples mutually edifying one another as they live on mission together. Their unified goal is to see the Great Commission fulfilled.

THE GLOBAL EMPHASIS

When Christ directed His apostles to make disciples of all nations, He wasn’t introducing a new idea. In fact, the idea of world-wide worship has been around since the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 1:28, God commissions Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” with offspring created in His image. Later, in Genesis 12, God promised to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed.

Habakkuk prophesied that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea,” and Isaiah likewise proclaimed, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

Therefore, when Jesus gave the Great Commission, He was drawing on the promise of old. Only now, the promise was being presented as a command with a strategy. The nations will be reached for the Gospel through local churches making disciples!

Of course, this task is too difficult for any one church to accomplish alone. That’s why we associate together. We accomplish more by pooling our resources and partnering in Great Commission efforts. We are better together.

DISCIPLEGUIDE HELPS CHURCHES MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS DiscipleGuide takes seriously its role in helping churches make disciples of all nations. Our goal is to help churches make disciples who reach the nations for Christ.

One of our efforts toward helping churches fulfill the Great Commission is our Activate process.

Under the direction of Bro. Todd West, Activate provides customized coaching for churches for the purposes of revitalization. Healthy churches produce disciples and missionaries!

DiscipleGuide also offers a six-lesson study of God’s heart for the nations entitled Xplore. This short study is perfect for igniting a fire for missions in a local church setting. Sunday school classes, small groups, and congregations will be challenged to become a “world Christian” through Xplore.

In cooperation with BMA Theological Seminary, our DiscipleWay discipleship curriculum is being used both at home and abroad. A Spanish translation has been used effectively in Central America and other translations have been discussed.

Further, DiscipleGuide’s annual student conference, SOAR, consistently introduces students to BMA missionaries and mission opportunities. In conjunction with BMA Missions, the students who attend SOAR have actively supported the disciplemaking ministries of various missionaries around the world. In fact, some current BMA missionaries were first exposed to God’s heart for the nations at SOAR. At DiscipleGuide, we believe that your church has a critical role to play in Great Commission work. No matter the size, location, or resources– every local congregation has something unique to offer. Every church matters.

Please let us know how we can help you further the kingdom. We’re here to help.

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DOCTOR’S OF

DISCIPLESHIP

BY: CHARLEY HOLMES | SEMINARY

“T

he Baptist Missionary Association (BMA) held its first commencement exercise in May of 1958. Since then, hundreds of graduates have completed associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. While most graduates use their educational accomplishments to assist them in fulfilling various ministerial leadership positions, some also choose to pursue further education.

According to the seminary’s published objectives

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for its master’s level degrees, graduates should possess the ability to pursue doctoral level studies.

In 2014, four BMA Seminary graduates completed doctoral programs, a first for the BMA Seminary. Scott Attebery (MDIV, ‘10), Executive Director of DiscipleGuide Church Resources, earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from GordonConwell Theological Seminary. Steve Crawley (MAR, ‘09), Executive Director of Lifeword Media

BMA SEMINARY “The resulting research likely provides the BMA with the most subsantially researched data ever made available to the association.”

test whether certain factors of discipleship found in Scripture were prevalent in discipleship relationships today.” He believes that several key findings, especially the concern for intentional relationships, could help churches.

“Hopefully, as I am able to do some more extensive research I will be able to share the results with BMA churches in a format that will help them to become more effective in disciple-making.”

Regarding his preparation for doctoral studies, Attebery said, “BMA Seminary prepared me for doctoral work by helping me develop a robust theological foundation. Throughout my studies at Gordon-Conwell, I met pastors and leaders who had studied at a wide range of seminaries.

As we would discuss issues in and out of class, I

Ministries, and Philip Attebery (MDIV, ‘90), Dean of the BMA Seminary, both earned Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Dallas Baptist University.

Eric Goble (MACM, ‘10), Pastor of Brister Baptist Church, Emerson, Arkansas, earned the Doctor of Ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Three of these men conducted dissertation research upon specific areas of the Baptist Missionary Association. The resulting research likely provides the BMA with the most substantially researched data ever made available to the association.

Scott Attebery completed Dr. Steve Crawley (left), Dr. Charley Holmes (center), & Dr. Philip Attebery (right) a dissertation entitled Disciples for Life: Maximizing Explicit Discipleship Training to Create Life-long Learners of Christ. Attebery’s interest in the subject “began through a meeting with Pastor Ricky Robinson. The fruit of Ricky’s disciplemaking has made a deep impact throughout North America, Central America, and South America.” That meeting stimulated a fifteen-year fascination “with the biblical call and concept of discipleship.”

Using interviews and focus groups from BMA churches, Scott Attebery “collected qualitative data to

Dr. Philip Attebery during graduation services

always felt like my education from BMATS (BMA Theological Seminary) was equal to or greater than the education of my cohorts.”

Steve Crawley’s research, A Study of Determinants of Giving among Churches Affiliated with the Baptist Missionary Association of America, included a random sampling of six hundred BMA churches from which 176 actually chose to participate.

“Working for a number of years in the business side of ministry, I was intrigued how per capita giving levels varied among churches. While some aspects of the phenomena were obvious—per capita income for a particular geographic area, copious levels of natural resources in certain states, etc.—my desire was to go deeper and study other factors related to church stewardship practices that might be significant influences in per capita giving levels of the membership.”

The research focused upon determining if the following variables influenced giving in BMA churches: church size, annual stewardship emphasis, stewardship training, offering envelope 18 ::: May - June 2015 | mission:world

distribution method, time of receiving offering, and frequency of distributing contribution statements. According to Crawley, “the study indicated a statistically significant relationship between total undesignated receipts and stewardship training, offering envelope distribution method, and the frequency of distributing contribution statements.”

Stewardship training revealed the strongest relationship with total undesignated receipts of giving among all variables tested. Crawley suggested that “churches may want to consider offering a direct approach to stewardship emphasis through formal training of members in addition to an indirect approach through congregational appeal.”

The congregational practice with the second largest impact on total undesignated receipts among BMA America churches was offering envelope distribution method. Crawley suggested further that “the more churches make envelopes available to its membership the higher the total of undesignated receipts. Churches with staffs and the capacity to do so may want to consider at least implementing a method to distribute offering envelopes on an annual basis.”

Crawley’s third finding determined that “while three-fourths of BMA America churches distribute statements annually, the current study implies the more frequently donors receive acknowledgment of their contributions, the higher the total of undesignated receipts.”

BMA SEMINARY

Crawley adds that “The five-year period pursuing a PhD was rigorous and the most challenging window of time in my life. The solid education I received at BMATS was second only to the on-going support and encouragement from their faculty and staff to pursue this educational goal.”

Philip Attebery’s research, Describing the Assimilation Experiences of New Converts: A Phenomenological Study, focused upon qualitative interviews with twenty-eight individuals.

Participants included twenty-one adults recently baptized in seven BMA churches, and their pastors or other church leaders. Attebery conducted the research “in order to help ministerial leaders close the proverbial back door by understanding what new converts experienced at conversion, looked forward to, or resisted regarding their assimilations.”

In addition to his long-time interest in helping individuals grow spiritually, Attebery’s focus for Dr. Scott Attebery, Executive Director of DiscipleGuide

the research came when he discovered a lack of input by new converts directly related to their experiences of assimilation into active ministry and membership within a church. The research findings included the proximity of conversion to major life events, eagerness of converts to join a family-like fellowship, contrasting views between converts and leaders regarding how converts learn what to do next, inability to describe intentional assimilation processes, and the sobering fact that only five new converts could initially articulate a faith-based reason for their salvations.

Philip Attebery’s research also resulted in recommendations for churches and church leaders. Recommendations included the equipping of members to share the gospel and develop relationships with new converts that exceed surface-level friendliness, giving attention to spiritual disciplines, evaluating teaching effectiveness, especially as it relates to doctrinal training, recognizing the inadequacy of relying upon a single sermon or lesson to cover a theological issue, and assisting new converts in developing their personal testimonies.

An exciting part of Philip Attebery’s research came during his interviews with new converts.

“The Lord really is saving people through the ministries of BMA churches! Our Directory and Handbook records the number of people baptized in our churches each year. There’s something about visiting the actual people represented by those numbers and hearing them testify of the dramatic changes in their lives by Jesus Christ! This should encourage our churches.”

One commonality between the research projects appears to be the necessity of intentionality: intentional relationships, stewardship training, and strategies for assimilating new converts.

BMA Seminary encourages associational leaders to consider how they might utilize these men and their research findings to address the issues related to developing life-long learners, enhancing financial stewardship, and assimilating adult new converts.

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 19

COLLECTING PEOPLE Making Jesus kown by building communities in the heart of Beijing.

BY: T.J. JOHNSON | CHINA

“M

y friend Jeff collects Starbucks coffee mugs from around the world. He’s amassed quite the collection: cups from India, China, parts of Africa, the Middle East, etc. I have another friend who collects nativity scenes. He wrote us recently and asked if we could get him one from China. Be it mugs or nativities, most people have something they collect. Our family is no exception; we collect people. Sounds strange, but if you lived with us for a week you’d understand exactly what I mean by that statement. When people say, “Tell me about your ministry,” I always wonder how much time they have. We don’t necessarily fit the conventional mode of missionary work; thus, trying to explain exactly how our ministry works is a bit problematic. The closest thing I can compare it to would be Francis Schaffer’s, L’Abri.

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We believe that faith is best expressed through community and that Jesus is best seen, not through a once-a- week sermon, but in common, everyday, faithful living that supports the truth of what we teach (Jesus really does change lives). To help accomplish this, our family has founded JK Culture Center. Located in the heart of Beijing, this affords us the opportunity to live out Jesus in front of others. The initial start-up for the center began through the faithful giving of SOAR (DiscipleGuide Church Resources’ annual student conference) students. Today it is sustained through our Englishteaching BAM (Business as Mission). Through the center we hold weekly Bible studies, do one-on-one discipleship, host evangelistic outreaches, train local three-self and house-church believers in areas

ASIA-PACIFIC

ranging from theology to music, support a local BAM, house those who have found themselves homeless, and a myriad of other activities.

Our ministry has always focused strongly on discipleship: specifically, disciples making disciples. We consider it the greatest joy to see our disciples moving on and doing more than we could have ever hoped or imagined them doing. For the next few moments I’d like to share with you a few of those disciples who are now making disciples.

Monica, a local A small group Bible study in China Chinese who came to Beijing for study, had never recently moved back to Guatemala hoping to be heard the gospel before and had no used by God to start a movement among her family real interest in Jesus. When I invited her to our and friends. home she jumped at the opportunity to visit a “real We met a Texan girl named Holly on her first American” home. Over the months that followed, Sunday in Beijing and encouraged her to attend God transformed her completely. She went from one of our fellowships. Though she was a Christian knowing nothing about Jesus, to believing, to before coming to China, it was here that she fleshed evangelizing, then discipling. She’s now involved out what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus. Holly’s an in the underground church in Beijing. Recently example of a disciple making disciples; she now leads I received this message from her: “Hi TJ…I just a women’s Celebrate Recovery group and is actively want to say thanks. Sorry for not making it to involved in a new church plant here in the city. every Friday night in December. I’ve been having regular fellowship with a group we started here on Then there’s Lee, who, after becoming a campus. I’ve received great love from Him in 2014…

Christian, now leads a children’s ministry at JK. it’s amazing and beautiful. You and Jenni were the Space precludes me from going into detail about very first to tell me about Jesus. Thank you from the Elsie, Barbara, and Torray, all of whom have called bottom of my heart.” our fellowship home for a season, only to move Angela is Guatemalan Chinese. She became a on and get involved in teaching ministries in both Christian after moving to China. While in our group underground and international churches. God is she matured as a believer and later left to help start doing amazing things here in Beijing, and we are the first-ever Spanish congregation in Beijing. She’s blessed to be a part of it.

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 23

SERVING THE MASTER IN QUEBEC AND HAITI BY: MICHAEL BARTON | CANADA

NORTH AMERICA

“S

ince the Lord became my Savior the road has been an uphill battle always with surprises that help me grow and transform me to His image. The Baptist Missionary Association America (BMAA) has been a source of encouragement each step of the way in my ministry. Working with French Canadian people is not an easy task knowing that most of them are Roman Catholic in great need of a Savior.

It is always good to know who you’re dealing with if you want to reach them for Christ. I can tell you one thing: they’re doing a good job of deceiving the lost and guiding them into Hell. Did you know that the Church of Rome denies salvation by grace alone?

Rome’s gospel is a confused combination of faith plus works, grace plus sacraments, Christ plus the church. It views justification not as a once-for-all legal declaration whereby the sinner is declared righteous before God and is granted eternal life as the unmerited gift of God, but as a process whereby the sinner is gradually saved through participation in the sacraments. There is no eternal security in the Roman gospel because salvation allegedly depends partially upon a man’s works. Every time we are out soul winning we are dealing with people who don’t have a clue of what the real gospel is. It is always refreshing when you see someone coming to church searching for the truth.

A LOOK AT OUR MINISTRY IN HAITI

Working with the Haitians has been a blessing of the Lord. One, it opened my eyes to be more thankful for what I have. I could say so much about Haiti.

First of all, they do not eat every day and the water they drink is so contaminated and because of it they are full of diseases. To add to their suffering, each day they can be killed by desperate people who have nothing to lose, people who will take a life just to steal some food. When they sleep at night it is usually on a dirty, cold cement floor. They are always in the dark with no electricity but especially in spiritual darkness surrounded by a corrupt government and voodoo practicing sects. The truth is that they are not surviving but just existing without any hope.

Jesus is their hope and that is what we bring them. The Lord is doing a great work. We are now seeing people getting saved, churches being built and we now have a vision for a compound and a school. The most important thing that the Lord has shown me in Haiti is being able to worship Him and rejoice in Him by giving Him praise no matter what circumstance you are in.

We see these people who do not have much to wear, but put on their best to go to church even though they are sick, have no home to go to, no food to eat when church is done and must go back to their dark rooms. When they are in church, they don’t allow these burdens and sufferings to show because they have really understood that Jesus is all they need. Something I think we all need to learn for ourselves is that we are born complainers and most of the time we have nothing to complain about, considering what these people go through each day.

I must say that I feel very privileged and blessed to be used by my Master. We have a strong vision for both ministries, a vision from and for the Lord that is good and healthy through His wisdom and grace.

God is so good and doing so much for us that each day is always a joy to get up in the morning to serve.

Giving your life to Christ is being born to serve.

Thank you, Jesus!

Let me finish by sharing a verse in the Bible that has compelled me to obey. Proverbs 21:13 says, “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”

Isn’t that what we do? We hear the cries and we know the needs but do nothing to meet them. Lord, have mercy on us and give us the right desires and compassion that when we do hear the cries, we will take action to do whatever it takes to care for someone’s spiritual or physical needs. And you know what? The cries are not only heard from Haiti but they could be coming from someone right beside you.

He has given to us freely; let us give back freely!

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 25

KEEPING FOCUSED IN MEXICO BY: ERIC JOHNSON | MEXICO

“J

esus has a global focus. His final words on this earth commission us to go into all the world and make disciples as we plant churches that reproduce themselves over and over again. What a magnificent Savior! We have had the privilege of watching God work in the lives of those He called us to in the country of Mexico.

Four years ago our family moved to Pachuca, Mexico. Kelly and I had dreamed about what God could do in a place like Pachuca. Many of you prayed for the work there, and we really believed God had something special in store. Since then, God has blessed the work in Pachuca beyond anything we could have dreamed. The church is strong and growing and now has two missions outside the city.

This new congregation is doing well in the work God has for her.

One of the goals in missions is to disciple faithful men for the work God calls them to. Around the world, God continues to bring men to salvation and calls them to the good work He has prepared for them. Today, I would like to introduce you to two of those men.

A couple of years ago, Kelly and I were invited to start having Bible studies on a military base near Pachuca. We were thankful for the opportunity and began meeting in the home of a new believer on the base. God began to work, and young families were coming to Christ. Among the first people we met were a young lieutenant named Alfredo and his wife Reina. They were saved, baptized, and became part of the congregation in Pachuca.

At the time we met, they had two daughters and were expecting a third. With the arrival of the third baby girl (Yesenia), all was well and life was good for the young officer and his family. I remember very

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well the evening I received a frantic phone call from Alfredo when baby Yesenia was just a few months old. They were rushing to the hospital because his baby girl had fallen from the bed and had a serious head injury. She was unresponsive, and he wanted me to ask the church for their prayers.

A couple of hours later, he called again. My heart sunk as he told me what the doctors had said.

Pressure was building in Yesenia’s brain and she needed emergency surgery. The prognosis was bleak.

The doctors said that if she survived, she would not be normal. I remember that night being surprised

central america

at the strength that this new believer showed as he prayed with me on the phone. He asked God to show him what he should learn through this experience and do what was best in his daughter’s life.

The baby came through the surgery but was unresponsive for a few days. The next Sunday, as we drove to the building we were meeting in, I intended to share with the church that the baby was not doing well. Much to my surprise when we arrived at the church, Alfredo, Reina and their three daughters were waiting for us. Baby Yesenia was smiling and laughing as if nothing had happened. “What are you thinking?” were the first words out of my mouth. I was surprised that they would have the baby out and about so soon. She had a large scar across her skull and was only one week out of surgery. Alfredo said to us that he just had to come and share with the church “how good God is!”

We now call Yesenia “Milagro” (miracle). She is doing fine and has no permanent issues related to the accident. Praise the Lord! God has blessed Alfredo and Reina in many ways, and he has since been promoted to a very prestigious position in the Mexican Air Force. He continues to share his faith with those around Him, making an impact for God’s kingdom in Mexico.

Wilmer is another young man that God is using in Mexico. About three years ago, Wilmer and his wife Paola joined the church. Wilmer grew up in the South American country of Venezuela. He moved to Mexico several years ago where he met and married Paola. Feeling called to ministry, they both attended the Bible Institute and graduated about the time they joined the church. They have been faithful servants in the church. Wilmer leads the music and directs youth activities, and Paola has been involved with the children’s and women’s ministries.

We are very thankful for families like theirs who have caught the vision of the Great Commission and are committed to making a global impact for the gospel. Wilmer is planning to return to Venezuela to plant churches. Venezuela has been a complicated country in regard to the spread of the Gospel. (Currently, the BMA does not have a work in Venezuela.) We are thrilled that God is calling men like Wilmer to places that may seem unreachable. God has uniquely qualified Wilmer for His work in Venezuela. His citizenship, culture, and strong family ties in the country will be a great asset to their future ministry there. We are also very excited that if God wills, Wilmer and Paola will be international missionaries sent from our churches in Mexico.

Please pray for Alfredo, Wilmer, and their families. Pray for the churches of Mexico and pray that we all remain focused on God’s global mission.

Eric Johnson baptizing Alfredo

FALLING AND RISING IN UKRAINE BY: JEFF FRANKS | UKRAINE

“T

he focus and joy of our ministry in Ukraine is to raise up servant-hearted leaders who excel in church planting by making disciples of Jesus. If, as John Maxwell so famously stated, “everything rises and falls on leadership,” just how are things going in Eastern Ukraine? Would you say they’re rising or falling? Well, let’s take a brief look at some of the evidence.

WHAT IS FALLING

Soviet-era apartment buildings, hospitals and pre-schools lie in haphazard piles of blocks and broken glass. A weary-eyed, slump-shouldered

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surgeon raises hands to head as yet another truck of wounded young men pulls up to his emergency entrance…or what’s left of it. Under hastily bandaged foreheads, soldiers’ eyes shadow back a wartime reality: shock, pain, and despair. Will I live? Where is my leg? They are the fortunate ones. Maybe. Other trucks are lumbering along the recent artillery barrages and infantry battles, hauling their increasingly grim load of dead bodies back to equally overwhelmed morticians.

Back to Maxwell’s quote and my question.

Personally, I put my check in the box beside the word “Falling.” Things are falling in East Ukraine.

Jesus told us we would hear of wars and rumors

EUROPE

“Things are rising amid the ruins of war, death, and despair, because one missionary leader demonstrated a true servant’s heart.”

of war. Here in peaceful Western Ukraine, we get the rumors, they get the war. I know you care and pray, and that’s good. Because in the midst of all this falling down, let me tell you of some rising going on.

WHAT IS RISING

Have you heard of the Ukrainian “Cyborg” soldiers who defended the Donetsk airport for months? Surrounded, and without hope of provisions or reinforcements, they seemed to defy every missile and mortar attack from the enemy.

Therefore, the Russian-backed rebels called them “Cyborgs.” In the Baptist churches of Ukraine I attended prayer meetings in which we called on the Lord to save them both physically and spiritually.

Sadly, the day came when thirty-seven Cyborgs were killed and the rest were captured. Reporting on this in Russia, LifeNews (a major pro-Kremlin TV network) made known a most curious fact to their audience. It appeared that the Ukrainian Army was brainwashing its soldiers! On the bodies of each of the wounded and dead Ukrainian Cyborgs, the Russian-backed insurgents found solar-powered audio-players with sermons in Russian and English by the renowned Baptist preacher Charles Stanley.

Regardless of the source of this news, I am thankful that some brave soul took the time, energy, and risk in the midst of war, to place the light of the glorious gospel in the hands of these men who fought so bravely until the end. I think that is outstanding leadership in missions, don’t you? Someone risked life and limb for souls who are not only ready, but desperate for the hope that in Jesus alone there is forgiveness and eternal life!

This is the very leadership on which things do not fall, but rise. Things like passionate

commitment to the Great Commission. Things like love, truth and longing for heaven. Things like the bodies of Ukrainian Cyborgs, sown in corruption, but now raised in incorruption. Sown in dishonor, but now raised in glory!

Now back to Maxwell’s quote and my question.

Here I’ll put my check in the box by the word “Rising.” Things are rising amid the ruins of war, death and despair, because one missionary leader demonstrated a true servant’s heart. He had a vision from the Lord, which through prayer and planning became the prayed-over work of a team.

Yes, everything rises and falls on leadership!

Now I wish I could humbly confess, “Oh shucks it was nothing. Yes, I was the one who took my mission team through the front lines to bless those soldiers!” No, it wasn’t me! (I know you’re still not convinced, ha ha!) But I would not be surprised if it was one of the brothers I had the privilege of training last year in the Trans-Carpathian province of Ukraine. A few days ago they asked me to hold them up before the throne of grace as they go not only to, but through the front lines to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ on the “enemy” side. Likewise, I would not be surprised to learn that it was a pastor or missionary from the IvanoFrankivsk province, whom I also had the joy of training. Perhaps it was they who reached the Cyborgs!

You see, one day we will know not only that small secret, but heaven will tell in glorious detail of the many wonderful things which “arose” on godly leadership in war-ravaged Ukraine.

Therefore, Coleen and I thank you for the joy of allowing us to be your agents in loving and serving Ukraine’s leaders in these troubled times. Please keep us and them in your prayers!

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 29

FAITH COMES FROM HEARING BY: JOHNMICHAEL POULIN | PERU

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“I

n Romans 10:17, Paul says “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” I believe this verse may be the most accurate description of what God is doing here in Peru. The Bible is very clear that salvation is the Lord’s. There is nothing that we can do to produce faith; it comes from the Lord, “it is the gift of God.” With that being said, God has chosen us to preach His Word so others can hear, and He has chosen to use the hearing of His Word to deliver saving faith.

One of the biggest ways that God is using us to preach His Word so that others can hear is by one-onone discipleship. Discipleship starts with evangelism. We spend twelve weeks sharing the Word of Christ with each of our disciples. Today, I want to tell you how God is using

south america “Discipleship begins with evangelism. We spend twelve weeks sharing the Word of Christ with each of our disciples.” this discipleship to reveal His glory through the lives of two different people.

First, I would like to introduce you to Victor. Victor comes from the working class. We met through our sons, who are best friends.

When I first met Victor he was an alcoholic. He did not drink all the time, but when he did he found it very difficult to stop. He would come to our Bible studies occasionally and it was during one of those nights that I asked him if he and his wife would be interested in studying the Bible with me. They both said yes.

The first night we met together we studied about Nicodemus, and I could see that God was working on the hearts of Victor and his wife. They did not get saved that night, but the next time we met we studied about Jesus and the two criminals that were crucified with

Him. God used this study to save Victor and his wife.

It has been very rewarding watching God grow Victor and his wife over the last couple of months. Victor no longer has a drinking problem and because of that he has been able to share Jesus with his family. I don’t think that Victor and his wife have missed a church service since God saved them. They both have a hunger for His Word. Almost every time that I go to their house for Bible study or they come to church, they have a question about something they have read in the Bible. Just this last week they asked me when they could be baptized, which is a very big deal in Latin culture.

I ask that you pray for them.

Pray that God will continue to grow them, that they will continue to share Jesus with their friends and families, and that Victor will become a leader of a small group.

Next, I would like to introduce you to Ivo. Ivo comes from the upper class, and he is very intellectual. Recently, he has become very disenchanted with the Catholic Church because of the contradiction between what they teach and what the Bible teaches.

For the last two months, Ivo and I have been studying the

Victor (left) and his family in Peru

Bible together once a week. He intellectually understands what salvation is, and he has even been inviting others to our Bible studies.

He has been suffering persecution from his family for studying the Bible, but yet he does not have faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for all who would believe in Him. The reason I keep meeting with Ivo is because the Bible says, “So faith comes from hearing.” I don’t know if God will ever save him, but I do know that if God does give him saving faith it will come from the hearing of the Word of Christ. So as long as he is willing to hear the Word of Christ, I pray that there will always be someone willing to preach it. And I pray that that someone will be you and me.

Johnmichael’s and Victor’s sons May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 31

united states

CHRIST IS KING

MEMPHIS

IN MEMPHIS

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BY: TREVOR DODSON | TENNESSEE

“F

or the past year our lives have changed drastically. New friends, new family, new home, new city, new baby, everything is different now.

As we have grown to see how big God is and how small we are, we’re constantly reminded of our sin and our shortcomings. Planting Mosaic Church has been the most rewarding thing we have ever done as a family and as Christ followers.

Baptisms at Mosaic Church in Memphis, TN

As I look at our future plans for the church body, the amazing things God will provide, the overcoming joy of seeing people radically change because of the power of the gospel and the new relationships that He will send our way, we rejoice that we can be a part of His work in Memphis.

A few months ago, we were able to see all of the hard work come to fruition in one of our Sunday morning services. At this service we were able to baptize four new Christ followers. The testimonies these guys gave pointed everything back to Christ and His work on the cross. In that moment, I was reminded of a few things: no matter how small we think we are, people are watching, God is working and lives are changing in Memphis and all over the world.

In the end, it doesn’t matter who we are or how small we feel, Christ reigns. He rewards those that are faithful and sends strength to the weak. He redeems the wicked and gives grace and increase to small sinners in the midst of their shortcomings. After that Sunday, I couldn’t help but continue to be reminded that it’s the little things that count and our work for the Lord is never in vain. Christ is at work in Memphis. To God alone be the Glory.

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 33

CHANGING LIVES IN

GHANA “A

s missionaries we want to win all the people in the world to the Lord, and we are driven by Matthew 28:18 and 19 to share the gospel with all the world. So many times we miss the last half of this verse; we do need to win souls to the Lord, but we also need to teach others to win souls as well.

This is one of those stories where people are being

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BY: DALE BROOM | WEST AFRICA taught to teach others to win souls to the Lord.

About three years ago, we began teaching others to be soul winners by teaching the pastors and the churches how to share the gospel in the villages of Ghana. One of the first churches that we visited in order to help teach them to evangelize was in the village of Nkenkaso. At that particular time they

West Africa

were without a pastor and we were there to teach the members to evangelize and disciple others. To the church members, it seemed that there was no hope, and they needed all the help they could get in every aspect. Finally Noah Cudwo became their pastor and enrolled in the Bible Institute for teaching and training. He enrolled in ten classes including Bible,

Evangelism, Discipleship, Bible Story Telling, and other classes that taught pastors how to become selfsustaining individuals and churches.

Pastor Noah started working in the village by sharing the gospel and being a caring pastor to the people of Nkenkaso. More and more people began coming to the church, and improvements were made to the building while Pastor Noah constantly taught the people to be a self-sustaining church.

Even after completing the certificate program at the Bible Institute, Pastor Noah has tried to attend all the training workshops that have been offered to the pastors of BMA Africa. As I continued to cast the vision for Ghana, Pastor Noah came to me one day and said, “Bro. Dale, I can see your vision coming true and that is what I want for our church!”

He also said that he didn’t want anyone to feed him but he wanted someone to teach him how to fish so that he can feed himself and then teach others to do the same for Jesus.

Winning souls is a wonderful blessing; however, it is also a wonderful blessing to see people that I have taught in turn teach others to win souls and disciple those new believers to become great leaders in Christ’s church.

As of now, Pastor Noah and the church have grown in number and have made many improvements to their building. They are currently in the process of building a pastor’s home, and they are farming tomatoes to help raise funds for this project and for future projects as well.

In March of 2014, the Water for Christ team drilled a borehole at their church. They were so excited to receive clean drinking water. Not only have they received physical water, but Pastor Noah has been preaching in order to provide spiritual water as well.

Pastor Noah’s wife Stella is also a wonderful asset to his ministry. She is working with the Women’s Fellowship and also with the music ministry of the church. We are very excited about the progress being made in the village of Nkenkaso, and there are other churches in Ghana that are making progress as well.

We are so thankful that God asked us to go to Ghana and be His missionaries!

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 35

THEY HAVE HEARD HIS CALL Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

God is still calling men and families to take the message of His grace to those who have never heard. Many are making great sacrifices and are leaving their homes and immediate families behind to fulfill God’s call on their lives. In the next six pages you have the opportunity to meet six new BMA Missionary families who have responded to God’s call!

Commit now to pray for them! Commit now to support their ministries.

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MISSIONS

Daisuke Okada mission:Japan

My name is Daisuke Okada. I have a beautiful wife, Marcia, and four children, Nicholas (15), Noah (13), Nathan (9), and Sophia (6). I was born and raised in Japan, and our family spent 12 years (from 2000-2012) in Japan, ministering as an associate pastor at a local church. Our ministry field is Japan. Japan is one of the least evangelized nations in the world. The nation is dying because of negative natural growth, and the church is dying from the lack of discipleship. Japan needs men who proclaim the Word accurately and believers who live out the life of godliness as they go out to bear witness for the Lord. I have been involved in a training ministry for the past 13 years and have established a training center called Japan Bible Academy (JBA) since 2013, which now has over 70 students. Currently, I am training Lay Leaders in the church with the plan to develop and establish

seminary level training for those who seek full time ministry. For the next few years, I will help strengthen local churches through JBA and as I lay foundation for the ministry, I plan to shift my focus to local church ministry for myself, as a pastor of a church, if the Lord wills. Our greatest need right now is for Ministry partners who are fluent in Japanese and a place to live Japan as we begin to move back.

justin owen mission:Estonia

My name is Justin Owens and I have been married to my wife Crystal for 14 years. We have four children: Kayla (12), Braeden (9), Elaina (6), and Lorelei (3). I am a member at Fellowship Baptist Church in Forney, TX. I am an ordained minister and have earned a Master of Divinity degree.

The ministry field where I will be serving is Estonia. Estonia is a small country in northeastern Europe just south of Finland and just west of Russia.

From 1940 until 1991, Estonia was forcibly made a part of the Soviet Union and has only known

two periods of freedom in the last 750 years. Being under former communist control, many people in Estonia are atheistic and have been very skeptical May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 37

MISSIONS about any institutional religion. Because of this, more than 70% of the population is unchurched and less than 2% is Christian. Many Estonians have not heard the most basic truths of the gospel. The younger generation is generally more receptive to new ideas. This leads to a great opportunity to share the gospel.

We previously served in Estonia for a brief period and saw firsthand the lostness and spiritual darkness of the country. Our hearts break for the many Estonians who will be born, live, and die without any knowledge of who Jesus is or what He has done for them.

Our mission is to help Estonians find their way to Jesus. God has given us the vision to PLANT.

To turn Estonia upside down through: • Partnering with Estonian nationals • Leading people to faith in Christ • Assembling new small discipleship groups • Networking the groups into simple churches • Training disciples to reproduce the ministry Currently, our greatest needs are financial supporters who will partner with us on a monthly basis to help Estonians find their way to Jesus. We need: • 10 supporters at $50/month • 10 supporters at $100/month • 10 supporters at $150/month

Matt barker mission:Missouri

Matt Barker, my wife of almost six years is Allison, Calix is 3 years old, and we have one baby on the way. My family is very active and we love sports and the outdoors. Fishing, hiking, swimming, soccer, baseball, and every other sport you can think of.

Nixa, Missouri, is a very family oriented town and is growing at a crazy rate. Nixa is experiencing a 60% growth rate. New homes and subdivisions are being built daily. The schools in Nixa are ranked in the top schools in the nation. It is a quiet town just outside of Springfield, MO. The people of Nixa are far removed from the church. 85% of the town does not attend church.

Two out of three claim no religious affiliation whatsoever. There is a huge need for the Gospel in Nixa, MO. Also, Nixa felt like home for us.

Our vision for the ministry in Nixa is to impact the town with the love of Christ. We want those involved with our church to grow spiritually and reproduce other disciples. We want Refuge Church to grow into a thriving church that brings people in, 38 ::: May - June 2015 | mission:world

helps them grow as Christians, and then be sent out to raise up more disciples. We want to start another church in the area within a few years.

We are in need of monthly financial support. At this time, we have a few monthly supporters but we are a long way from reaching our goal. This is our greatest need at this time. We are also in need of a computer or laptop for ministry purposes.

michael smith mission:Arkansas

We are the Smith Family: Michael, Jennifer, Jacob, Marcus and Lucas. We have been in ministry for 10 years; the majority of that time was serving in Youth Ministry. During that time, I attended and graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The Smith crew moved to Northwest Arkansas in October 2009. We have grown to love this area. After being here a few months, we started the process to adopt. In July 2010 we adopted twin boys. Our son, Lucas, has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. That began a journey of God stirring a desire to plant an inclusive church. A church that welcomes families with disabilities. Jennifer and I loved working with teenagers and had devoted our lives to student ministry, but God began to plant seeds into our hearts to pursue church planting.

After praying and dreaming we have set out to plant Journey Church Siloam Springs!

We will be planting Journey Church in Siloam Springs, AR. In 2012, the Smithsonian Magazine named Siloam Springs one of the 20 best small towns in America. It is tucked away in Northwest Arkansas in a thriving part of the state. Siloam Springs has grown by about 38% in the last 10 years and is projected to continue to grow. Siloam does have several churches doing excellent ministry in the community. However, there have not been a lot of new churches to reach the growing population.

We see an opportunity to reach many of the new families that have moved into the area in the last few years. We also see an opportunity to reach many of the unchurched in Siloam Springs and the surrounding areas. Northwest Arkansas has experienced tremendous growth in the past 10 years and experts believe that this will continue. We believe this is a great time and location to plant a church!

We are a church that is being planted in Siloam Springs that is on a mission to see lives transformed

by Jesus! The question that we have been asked is “why Siloam?” The first reason is that my wife and I have spent over 4 years praying about planting a church. Our desire is to go where God would call us and be open to different areas. After praying and spending time searching areas we felt God calling us to Siloam Springs. There is a need for new growth in Siloam Springs to reach the growing community and those not being reached. Church planting is the most effective form of evangelism in our world.

Part of our journey is that we adopted twin boys and our son Lucas has Cerebral Palsy. As God has shaped and transformed our family He has also given us a heart for families with disabilities. Siloam has a great organization called Ability Tree. It is a ministry that serves families affected by disabilities.

We believe that God is doing something BIG with Ability Tree and we want to serve with them. We are also planting a church in Siloam Springs because we are a church of broken people for broken people.

We desire to meet people wherever they are on their Journey and point them to Jesus. Jesus said “Come to me all you that are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” We will be a church of people who find rest for their soul, they will find hope, they will find peace, but most of all they will find Jesus!

Journey Church desires to be a movement of authentic people that are on a Journey to reach the lost, serve the community, worship Jesus, and live in biblical community. We are dreaming of a church that engages our community and builds May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 39

relationships with our neighbors. Our dream is that we serve our community with the hands and feet of Jesus. We desire to be a safe place for people to ask tough questions about God, faith, salvation, and life.

Journey Church desires to connect with people on their Journey and point them to Jesus! In Jesus, there is healing, hope, abundant and eternal life! We dream of a church that has a culture of developing a strong relationship with Christ and multiplying as we make disciples. We are connecting with people on their journey and pointing them to Jesus!

Our greatest needs are prayer, people, funding, and encouragement. We need prayer for our city that hearts would be receptive to the gospel and that our team would have wisdom in decisions that we need to make. We need prayer over our families to stand strong against the enemy’s traps. We need prayer for doors to be opened that only God could open.

We need people that will join our launch team.

Church planting is a massive undertaking and we have taken a giant leap of faith believing that God has sent us! We need people that will help us get Journey Church off the ground. We need co-labors in this journey. We believe the harvest is ripe, and we need workers. We need to have conversations with people that need Jesus and the support of a church.

We need funding. We have sold our homes, left jobs, moved to a new area, and have gone all in. We need financial backing of small gifts and large gifts. We trust God for His provision, would you consider partnering?

Encouragement- we have people that have encouraged us along the way. It is fuel to our journey when people tell us they believe in us and confirm what God is doing with Journey Church. Authentic encouragement goes along way in the life of a missionary.

sam freeman mission:Philippines

My name is Sam Freeman. I am 44 years old and have been a pastor for 15 years. I have been privileged to serve as pastor of 4 BMA churches in Mississippi, and it has been an awesome experience. I married a beautiful and wonderful Mississippi girl, Dawn Phillips Freeman, on February 4, 1995, and the Lord has blessed us with 3 healthy and growing boys.

Tristan is our oldest, and he is 15 years old. Zane is our center child, and he is 11. Seth is our “baby boy”, and he is 8.

Most of the time when a person in one of our churches hears the name, Bro. Freeman, they immediately think of my father, Bro. Rayburn Freeman. He served as a pastor in Mississippi in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, and then God called him to serve as a BMA Missionary to the Philippines, which he did until 1994. After returning to the States 40 ::: May - June 2015 | mission:world

from the mission field, the Lord used my father to serve as the Director of Missions and Revolving Loan Fund for the BMA of Mississippi for 16 years.

God is still using dad today to fill pulpits and share his knowledge with others as he writes articles for different papers.

MISSIONS To say, that I have some mighty big shoes to fill, is an understatement. Dad has been a staple of the BMA for some time now. To me, dad has not only been an awesome father, but my mentor in the faith and in my ministry. I am truly blessed. Having said this, I know I am not my father, but I hope to do him proud.

Being a BMA pastor has been a rewarding and fulfilling journey. I have been blessed to pastor some amazing people and the church I pastor currently, Plainview Baptist Church in Poplarville, MS is a special one. In fact when I accepted the pastorate here, I was praying that this would be my last church and was hoping this would be where I would serve out the rest of my days. Little did I know that God would use this church and its entire congregation to put us in the place where God would reveal to Dawn and I, our next field of service.

In 2014, Dawn and I had the privilege of traveling to the Philippines on a mission trip. I was there to preach a missions conference for the BMA of Negros Island.

This trip blessed me with the opportunity to show my wife around the places where I grew up and meet the people who are so special to me. However, God put us there at that moment in time to show us His amazing plan for our future. It was an emotional and Spirit filled trip. Upon returning to the States, I could not find rest in my spirit. I felt like Jacob wrestling with God and only when I stopped and prayed, “Lord, I’ll serve you in the Philippines if that is where you want me” did I find rest.

God has called us to serve Him in two different ways in the Philippines: First, we are going to revitalize the BMAP Publications Department. I truly believe God intends for us to print doctrinally sound, Christian literature not only in English and dialects of Filipino, but also in Asian languages. This ministry will assist all our national workers and missionaries laboring in those nations by providing them with literature in the heart languages of the people groups they are trying to reach for Christ. In order to fulfill this vision, we must purchase a digital press which will allow us to change the entire printing process from what we currently have setup there. With a digital press we can print short run jobs in the dialects and languages where they are so desperately needed. This press will allow us to streamline our operations there and put our ministry funds into the actual process of printing material.

I don’t want to tie myself down to the Publications

ministry. I want God to use me in revitalizing this ministry and putting procedures in place to keep this ministry at the forefront of the work in the Philippines.

There are many capable and qualified individuals in our work in the Philippines. Once they have caught the vision for the Philippines and Asian Publications, they will be able to effectively keep it moving forward.

Second, my heart is burdened for the people living on the Oriental side of Negros Island. This small strip of land has over 1.5 million people who call it home.

Currently, we only have 3 BMA churches in that area.

I believe God can and will use our family to plant churches and train other workers in the area to plant churches as well. We will use all the resources available to us through the efforts of the BMA of Negros Island to bring all efforts to bear in our church planting efforts. I have communicated at length with the leaders of the BMAP and BMA of Negros Island and they are very excited to not only realize this vision but to take part in the efforts as well. My vision for church planting doesn’t end with Negros Oriental. There are many places in the Philippines where we do not have a presence at all. Millions of people who need to hear about Jesus and His sacrificial atonement for them on Calvary’s cross. I pray God uses my family to reach many of them.

I am continually asked what our greatest need is right now. First, we need to raise $50,000 to purchase the digital press. God has opened a door of opportunity for us to purchase a press in the Philippines. This is a blessing that I can only attribute to God. Second, we need churches and individuals to partner with us financially towards our salary and ministry work funds. We have set a goal of $6,000 per month. This amount will provide us with $28,000 a year to use in the Publications Department and in our church planting efforts.

Above all, my family needs all of God’s people praying. Pray for our family as we travel and seek support from our churches. Pray for our family as we prepare to move across the world and minister for God and the BMA of America. Pray for my wife and children as they transition to another culture.

I am going home, but they are leaving home and all they know. Pray for God’s provision and protection.

Finally, pray that God would prepare the hearts and minds of the people we are going to minister with and those we are going to minister to.

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 41

MISSIONS

Todd Cox mission:Georgia

I am originally from the Atlanta, Georgia area and my wife, Tina, is from Eastern North Carolina (New Bern). We have been married since 1992. We have two children, Taylor and Tyler. Our daughter, Taylor is 18 and is a Sophomore in college. Our son, Tyler, is 15 and is in 9th grade. We met in North Carolina, in Tina’s hometown, while I was stationed there in the United States Coast Guard. Shortly after marrying, we moved to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where I attended Aviation school in the Coast Guard. In the summer of 1993, we moved to Savannah, Georgia where I was stationed on rescue helicopters for the Coast Guard.

I left the Coast Guard in 1997 and then worked in the aviation fields at Gulfstream Aerospace and at Snelling Search. In 1996, we were instrumental in a new church plant in Savannah. After we left the Coast Guard, I surrendered to the ministry while serving as the church Youth Pastor. I worked with students, helped with the sound ministry, and taught home Bible studies at the new church. I began working for a Christian company and traveled around the United States performing security and life safety consulting for financial institutions. That company brought our family to Forney, Texas in 2002. I worked as the General Manager at a Christian Waterpark, Splash Kingdom, in Canton, Texas from 2006-2008. We continued to live in the Forney area up until 2009 when I was hired to serve as the Student Pastor at New Harmony Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas.

I was elected as a North American Church Planter in April 2011 and co-founded The Refuge Church in Terrell, TX where I co-pastored. I have served in the ministry for over 15 years in several capacities, from leading home Bible studies, serving as youth and student pastor, as well as, audio and visual ministry. I majored in Ministry & Leadership at Dallas Christian College and was licensed to preach in 2005 and Ordained as a Pastor in 2010. My heart is to be a servant leader and I’ve been called to preach God’s Word while discipling others into a deeper relationship with God through Christ. During my experience helping with the church plant in Savannah, Georgia, God truly changed my heart for the un-churched and those who have fallen away from the church due to misconceptions or hurts. While serving at New 42 ::: May - June 2015 | mission:world

Harmony, I truly felt God calling me to begin a new work and to plant a new church in the Kaufman County area to reach exactly those groups of people. In every city, there are people who are desperate to know God and are just looking for others to point the way to Him while showing them the love of Christ and the truth of His Word.

We plan to minister in North Georgia, North of Metrol Atlanta, GA, in Alphareta, Cumming, and Forsyth County.

• I grew up in the Metro Atlanta area in Stone Mountain, GA. My mom and sister now live in Forsyth County (North of Atlanta) • Forsyth County has consistently been one of the fastest growing counties in GA for over 10 years.

• Alpharetta is the fastest growing city in GA and 6th fastest in US. • There are no BMA churches in GA.

I am originally from GA and have family there and really sensed God was calling us to plant there and help the BMA grow in that area too. Based on the statistics in the area the need is great. Tina and I feel like God is placing us in this area, with all the previous growth and new growth coming, “for such a time as this”!

Our vision is to be planted out of the Refuge in Terrell, TX and carry the name The Refuge to GA with the same mission I helped with in TX – to meet people where they are and show them the love of Christ and foster an environment of making disciples that makes disciples as the Holy Spirit changes them into the image of Christ.

Our greatest needs right now is prayer, finances and people that want to join our vision to plant in the area as we meet people this fall.

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Cambodian Nationals Taiwan Nationals Missionaries Health and Wellness Bible Institutes in various countries Lifeword Staff Pastors of BMA churches Sue Kid*, (Bro. Jerry – Missions Office - Conway, AR) Willow Hagar*, Plano, IL Anetta Chambers*, Memphis, TN Micah Rose*, Mexico Angelina Jordan*, Jordan Steve & Daura Crawley**, Lifeword, Conway, AR Zachery Keathly*, (Karen’s son, Missions Office) Matt & Amy Prather**, Celina, TX Todd West*, Discipleguide, Conway, AR VSM students Creative Access Nations Justin and Hollie Burdick**, Southaven, MS Brooklyn Faith Greenhaw*, Bentonville, AR Angela Newsom*, Philippines Ethan Prather*, Celin, TX Celia Broom*, Ghana, West Africa Ali & Anetta Chambers**, Memphis, TN Emily Rice*, Conway, AR Joe & Diane Ward**, Lifeword, Conway, AR Andie Grace Kathcart*, Kansas City, MO Jerry Kidd*, Missions Office, Conway, AR Daniela Bilav*, Romania Drew Cox*, Bentonville, AR Maria Garrido*, Bells Garden, CA David & Shelley Dickson*, Latin America Phil & LaJuana Knott**, Missions Office, Conway, AR Jesse & Rebecca Hales**, Dominican Republic Grady Johnson*, Mexico BJ & Jill Sanders**, Papua New Guinea Thomas & Smita Haokip**, India BMA America Staff Jamie Morgan*, Missions Office – Conway, AR Eric Johnson*, Mexico Joshua Hadyat*, Chicago Ruth Poirier*, Canada Matthew Prather*, Celina, TX Andrey & Liya Kravchuk**, Maitland, FL * Birthday ** Anniversary

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Jo and Jessie Yaebeang**, Thailand LPFM radio stations (helps spread the gospel) Egyptian Nationals Doug & Ellen Siler**, Lifeword, Conway, AR Elias Ortega*, Conway, AR Neil & Lauren Greenhaw**, Bentonville, AR Czech Republic Nationals Korean Nationals John David & Kim Smith**, Missions Office, Conway, AR Filomeno Kakiala* Philippines Jeff & Coleen Franks**, Ukraine Thomas & Courtney Mobly**, Lifeword, Conway, AR Larry & Shelby Barker**, Missions Office, Conway, AR Mai Sawmi Aung*, Myanmar Ken Gipson*, Conway, AR John & Brenda Bienlein**, Swartz Creek, MI Calix Barker*, Nixa, MO Nate Johnson*, Creative Access Nation Mark & Heather Malone**, Lifeword, Conway, AR Rick & Angela Russell**, Lifeword, Conway, AR Hal & Glenda Sellers**, Lifeword, Conway, AR Liberian Nationals Brandon & Angela Cox**, Bentonville, AR Nick Jacobsen*, Lifeword, Conway, AR Phil Knott*, Missions Office, Conway, AR Brenda Bienlein*, Swartz Creek, MI Paisley Hambrice*, Papua New Guinea Jazmina Robinson*, Houston, TX Mike Poirier*, Canada Rita Ballard*, Philippines Anthony & Mary Pennington**, Albuquerque, NM Audrey Johnson*, Mexico Terry & Tricia Kimbrow**, Discipleguide, Conway, AR Ashlyn Crawley*, Conway, AR Raquel Lopez*, Honduras Jeremy & Mandy Hambrice**, Papua New Guinea Jenifer Hight*, (Michael is Hispanic Coordinator) James Michael Cross* France Mark Malone*, Lifeword, Conway, AR Rick Cummins*, Conway, AR Water for Christ Projects Benjamin Chambers*, Memphis, TN Dr. Fil Tabayoyong*, Cambodia Ricky Williams*, Mexico Mandy Hambrice*, Papua New Guinea Janice Attebery*, Conway, AR Portuguese Nationals Ukrainian Nationals May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 43

A review and preview of missionary news from around the world

Philippines: Danny Ballard

We are praising God as He continues using us to touch the lives of many Filipino people whether it be through physical needs, emotional needs, or their spiritual need for a Savior. God has provided opportunities for us to share our faith regardless of our location, whether it be in Bacolod, Talisay, or Manila. We claim 1 Corinthians 3:6 where Paul states, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”

God has led us to minister to the people in the Greater Metro Urban Manila area, the land of over 25 million people, where we are in the beginning stage of the House of Hope Ministry. Through this ministry we will continue discipling others, training disciplemakers, conduct home Bible studies, and work with Pastor Vincent Ferrer, Head BMA Church Planter Coordinator of Luzon, in church planting. The House of Hope Ministry will be a working prototype of a Holistic ministry centered on addressing both the spiritual and physical needs of the people based on Romans 12:10-13.

We plan, with the Lord’s guidance, to establish a place for the families of cancer patients to stay as their loved ones go through their cancer treatments. The cost of their stay at the House of Hope will be based on their income and therefore will help ease an emotional and financial burden that comes with a major illness like cancer. It will give us the opportunity to share the love of Christ through words and actions just like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Rita continues to serve as president of the Cancer Support Group at St. Luke’s Hospital in Manila where her card ministry for the cancer patients is a ministry that brings joy, happiness and the gospel to each patient.

We would like to ask you to partner with us in prayer and financially. Our email address is ballardsphilippines@gmail.com or mission.philippines@yahoo.com we would love to hear from you. If you would like to donate visit www. bmamissions.org and click “give” or mail it to BMA Missions, P.O. Box 878, Conway AR. 72033 earmark “Danny Ballard”. We appreciate your generosity and support as we continue serving God in the Philippines. Please continue lifting us up in prayer!

and property as well. The pastors are working hard to develop the LPFM community radios and other projects such as the Aquaponics ponds and farming. They are striving to plant new churches and spread the Gospel throughout Ghana and beyond, which is the vision that we are all striving for.

We are so blessed to be a part of God’s work in Ghana.

Washington:Brad Faulk Ghana: Dale Broom

It has been a very busy year thus far and seems to get even busier as time goes on. Many changes have been made this year and more changes are coming as progress is made. The Bible Institute is growing and we are also making additions to the building

Greetings from the Faulk’s! God has been faithful and we are so blessed to be partnering with you, the BMAA, here in the state of Washington in reaching the lost and making disciples for His glory. One of the avenues that we are trying to make disciples is through our Small Groups. These Groups are vital to the growth and

mission:news 44 ::: May - June 2015 | mission:world

health of our church plant. One of the biggest challenges that we faced in 2014 was getting people actively involved in one. Our Small Groups are simply Home Bible Study Groups that meet once a week for discipleship & fellowship. When you’re a church plant that only meets one morning a week in a school cafeteria there’s not much time for fellowship and discipleship. This makes it crucial that people are connecting on a weekly basis through a Small Group. These Groups are our attempt to go beyond the surface and are for the most part where discipleship and relationships happen. I’ve always been told that people will come to a church for good preaching and good worship but unless they develop relationships within the body they wont stick around for the long haul. Over the last 20 years in ministry I believe that to be a very accurate statement. The Apostle Paul referred to the local church as a family and so it would make sense that cultivating relationships through a discipleship process would be vital.

Please pray for us as we seek God’s guidance on how to increase the number of people who are getting plugged into these Small Groups. We just kicked off three new small groups that we are excited about: #1 Marriage Enrichment Group, #2 Investigative Study of the Bible, and #3 a SOAP (Inductive Bible Study) Group. The excitement level for these groups seem high and we believe this could be our best season yet. Thanks for praying for us that God would increase our impact of discipleship and fellowship through our Small Group ministry.

and more with the Nagua church as they try to help build up and establish the church in Sánchez. If you remember, Bro. William who was leading the Sánchez church passed away several months back.

As his health declined and along with it his ability to do much with the church, the church itself suffered greatly. When he passed away it rattled the small church even more.

Since then some of us men from the Nagua church have started going back out there a few times a week witnessing and doing some much needed discipling. God has been faithful in helping us with this effort and I know your prayers have had a lot to do with that. Thank you. We are starting to put into action other parts of our ministry as well such as the teachers training workshops.

It’s exciting to see God working in all the different areas. We ask you to continue to pray for the ministry here, the people God is preparing for us to share with, the Dominican laborers who are working to bring in the harvest, and the teams from the States that are coming this summer to help.

Domincan: Jesse Hales Thank you for all your prayers for the ministry here in the Dominican Republic. We want to thank the Lord for His faithfulness in helping us. We have been working more

North America: Michael Hight

May is the time for our annual Hombre a Hombre Conference in Texas. Preparations for this

conference began in January as a team of us met in Louisiana to pray about our work and plan for the upcoming event. We had leaders from three key states and really experienced a time of harmonious collaboration. We are praying that we will have over 200 men in attendance this year! I am excited about what God is doing with our Hispanic work in North America.

Please keep us in you prayers as we continually strive to do God’s will.

Philippines: Fil Kakilala It is one of the wettest places on earth receiving over 300 inches of rainfall annually, yet the rain is never seen as much of a nuisance because it keeps the temperature and humidity from feeling oppressive.

Welcome to Pohnpei! The BMA is being welcomed to minister in this Pacific island group inhabited by about 34,000 people. When foreigners first came to Pohnpei, the population was almost wiped out by diseases they introduced. This time around, Baptist Medical Missions International will arrive this summer to help with the physical and spiritual well-being of the islanders.

Please pray for the ministry in this new area for the BMA.

May - June 2015 | mission:world ::: 45

Philippines: Doug Lee

for the work in Ségur. People are thirsty for the word of God. I wish it would be the same for our churches.

Despite the great poverty people put there difficulty aside, and strive to seek after God. This year we will be organizing our first church and we plan to begin to work on our second church in Haiti with your help. Pray for us because your prayers and support are very important to our ministry. Working together to reach soul’s for Christ, Jeremiah 33:3.

We are super excited about being home and sharing our ministry with our BMA churches. It is a blessing to visit with churches and associations who are mission-minded and share in our vision for the Philippines. If you would like for us to visit your church, please contact us at 601427-0128 or e-mail me at doug@ musicservicesinc.com. We are available for the months of May and June.

Mexico: Ricky Williams DiscipleWay training of trainers at Tecolotitla, Hidalgo (a few miles from Huejutla) was a blessing.

Six trainers received the four day

Canada: Michael Poirier

Our ministry in Quebec is doing well. I am working with a man called to preach to whom the Lord sent to us to work in Levis. It is a blessing to see God’s people answering the call. We started a new cell group in the neighboring village of Levis. The people who are present are mostly Haitians. In Kuujjuaraapic the first Sunday of the year we had 35 people at the meeting, praise the Lord.

In Haiti we are praising the Lord 46 ::: May - June 2015 | mission:world

training and several souls professed Christ as the teams went out to do on-the-job training of evangelism.

Over all, missionary pastor Pedro Oviedo said the mission was revived through four days of training.

Members of the training team that taught the course were Tommy Rose, Miguel Martínez, Andrés Pacheco, one other brother from the church in Huejutla, and myself. t was my pleasure to travel to Honduras for the Pastor and Worker´s Congress of our churches in Central America. I attempted to speak on the subject of Christian Education in the church. It was a good time of fellowship with other speakers as well as attendees from the churches. Upon return via bus I spent a couple of days in Tapachula, Chiapas (southern Mexico) where I delivered some DVD copies of two classes from our Bible Institute.

Bro. Noé from there also expressed interest in using our online courses in conjunction with the Bible Institute in Chiapas.

Continue to remember our mission of training and equipping pastors and workers in Mexico and Latin America.

Find more Missionaries and learn how you can be praying for them at bmamissions.org/missionaries