Report of the
Board of Missions
“This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it”.
How shortsighted we must be to quote Psalm 118:24 as some type of pep talk for a bad day. Recently I heard a woman in a parking lot say as she looked at the crumpled fender of her new SUV, “Oh well, this is the day…”
The Psalmist is very clear, as is our Lord in the Gospels that the day of rejoicing is the day that God made the rejected stone by man the Chief Cornerstone. “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
As God continues to build His church on the foundation of His Son Jesus Christ, it still is a marvelous sight in our eyes.
We live in unprecedented times! The outpouring of the Spirit on this world and the ingathering of believers in the past few years are unparalleled in church history. The church of Jesus Christ around the world has heeded His call to go and make disciples.
The statistics that follow this report only tell a portion of the story. God continues to call out of our tiny denomination men and women for careers in missionary service. (We now have 1 out of every 42 members of the BFC involved with the BOM!) Out of our missionary family God has called some to take the mantle of leadership, for others they are part of the great army on the front lines of evangelism and church planting. Still others carry on the support ministries that are so vitally needed.
The BFC missionary family proclaims the Good News of the Gospel in over 35 nations of the world.
They touch the students and professors on the campuses of our universities.
They build the next generation of church leaders in Africa, Europe, and Central and South America.
They assist nationals in establishing churches.
They show the love of Christ by assisting those who are physically suffering.
They find creative ways to be salt and light in limited-access areas.
From the Indian reservation, to the inter-city, from the jungle to the remote parts of Mongolia they serve the cause of Christ.
Beyond the statistics that account for our career missionary family is the movement within the BFC toward short-term missionary projects. Both adults and students are heeding the call to join forces with our missionary family and assist in a wide variety of ways. We have no way of accurately counting those who have heeded the call. Entire work teams and small groups have transversed the globe over the past year. At least a third of our churches have participated in some type of a project. (Besides work teams, many ministry teams used sports, puppets, VBS, magic, and mime.) What was once a youth movement now includes all ages. Retired couples, singles groups, even entire families have joined the ranks.
Truly “the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
This year the BOM continues to serve our churches by:
Helping churches bring those who show an interest in missions through the application process to career status with the BFC.
Providing overseas opportunities through a pastor’s vision trip to Kenya, and a combined church short-term missions trip to Venezuela.
Offering the services of Global Focus to our BFC Churches.
Joining ranks with the newly formed Board of Youth and Young Adults in promoting missionary service projects for our youth.
Offering our young people a missions vision though a RWR retreat.
Taking a group of young adults to URBANA Missions Conference in Illinois.
Establishing the BFC-letsfish egroup for the purpose of sharing ideas.
Conducting our first Short-Term Missions Symposium for teens and young adults being held this year at Quakertown on May 5.
The Board of Missions remains committed to the creation of the new BFC missions entity approved by Annual Conference namely, The Great Commission Ministries – BFC. This new Board will have as its focus the comprehensive fulfillment of Acts 1:8
“This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
General Statistical Report on December 31, 2000
1. Number of Sending Boards under which our
missionaries are working…………36
2. Number of countries in which our
missionaries are working…………35
3. Number of Missionaries:
Family Couples Singles Total
Units Adults
Active Missionaries 83 61 22 144
Leave of Absence 0 0 0 0
Appointees 9 4 5 13
Active Applicants 8 5 2 15
TOTALS 100 70 29 172
4. Geographical Areas where our missionaries are assigned and their number
Area Families Adults Countries
U.S. 38 65 U.S.
North America 3 6 Canada, Mexico (excluding U.S.)
Central America 5 9 Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe
South America9 15 Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador Venezuela
Europe 18 28 Austria, France, Germany, UK, Greece, Hungary, Spain, Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan
Africa 6 10 Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco
Asia 8 15 India, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Mongolia, Thailand, Ukraine
Southeast Asia
& Pacific 5 9 Guam, Malaysia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines
TOTALS 91 208 35
Annual Reports From Missionaries
Annual activity reports from missionaries will be sent out by the missionaries themselves. These reports for 2000 will be sent out in early 2001.
Dates To Mark On Your Calendar Of Events:
Saturday, May 5th 2001 A Short-Term Missions Symposium
9:30 am to 3 pm
Quakertown BFC
Thursday, May 10th 2001 Conference-Wide Missionary Rally 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Lebanon BFC.
August 4-10, 2001 World Missions Week at Pinebrook Bible Conference
November 10,2001 Missions Banquet Yoders Restaurant, New Holland, PA
Board of Missions: Ralph M. Soper, Chairman; Dana E. Weller, Director; Charles J. Albert, Jr., Financial Secretary; James W. Harris, Secretary; David R. Way, Leroy O. Herb, Jacob J. Susek Jr., Gerald Schlonecker, Thomas P. Shorb, Donald Faust
Report Of the
Task Force On the Creation Of A New Missions Agency
From the Board of Church Extension
And The Board Of Missions
Since the 117th Annual Conference, the Task Force of The Board of Church Extension and The Board of Missions met six times to work on creating a new Board. During the year we discussed the areas of commonality and difference between the two Boards. We labored over types of Boards and styles of manage-ment. We talked about common ways to process finances and, in particular, contributions. We discussed ways of communicating to Local Church Boards. We worked on Value Statements.
During the year, it became apparent that, in the words of one of the Task Force members, we were attempting to put New Wine into Old Wineskins. The Task Force is made up of men from the Boards of Missions and Church Extension. We brought to our work our paradigms and biases. At this point we feel we need to pass on our work to a new Task Force which the present Task Force will appoint. We believe with our gifts and abilities, we have made great progress working together as the Board of Missions & Board of Church Extension for which we praise the Lord. However, we believe a new Task Force with different gifts and abilities will be able to move the process toward the goal of forming the structure and planning implementation for the new Board.
If you, or someone you know, would like to be considered to be on this new Task Force, please contact Dana Weller or David Gundrum.
In order to allow the new Task Force time to complete its work, the Task Force has agreed to postpone the second reading of the material found in Yearbook 2000 on pages 13-15 of the minutes of the 117th Annual Conference for one year.
Task Force On Combining The Board Of Church Extension and The Board Of Missions:Ralph M. Soper, Chairman; David R. Way, Secretary; W. David Armstrong, Jr., David E. Gundrum, Richard E. Taylor; Dana E. Weller.