Report of the
Board of Missions
I will praise you among all the people;
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
The poor will eat and be satisfied.
All who seek the LORD will praise him.
Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
The whole earth will acknowledge the LORD and return to him.
People from every nation will bow down before him.
For the LORD is king! He rules all the nations.
Psalm 22:25-28 (NLT)
Even in the Old Testament, we see God’s desire is for every tribe, tongue and nation to worship before His throne. This scene is repeated in Revelation, as John the Revelator gives us a glimpse into worship around the Throne of God that encompasses people from every tribe tongue and nation. To that end, the BFC Board of Missions continues to support the missionary work of the BFC around the globe. Currently there are 84 missionary family units serving in 34 countries around the world. The sun literally does not set on the BFC missionary family. This group of servants works on planting churches with indigenous leadership and trains those leaders. They also serve as house parents, teach children, fly and fix airplanes, administrate and provide leadership for entire missions organizations, support various missionaries in many ways including building, cleaning, caring for children, provide counsel for them, author text books to be used by many, etc.. God is using these servants as they offer their gifts to expand and strengthen His Kingdom. There is always room for more servants in God’s harvest fields. Maybe God isn’t calling you to a position in a country far away; it may be to serve missionaries and others here in the States. We need to continue to follow Jesus’ advice from Luke 10:2 and ask the Lord of the Harvest to supply more workers for His harvest field. He rules all nations and has His harvest ready. Where is your place in that harvest?
The Board of Missions
The Board of Missions (BOM) meets bi-monthly to conduct the business matters that concern our missionary family. Budget and financial matters are reviewed and discussed. Folks that are seeking to become BFC missionaries are interviewed and assessed. BFC missionaries home on furlough are often interviewed to understand the progress they have made and the challenges they and their ministry face. The BOM Director always provides an update concerning missionaries who are:
> candidates and their status with their sending board and support raising efforts,
> set to leave for the field and when their commissioning date is,
> coming back to the states as scheduled or who have reasons to come back earlier than planned,
> especially experiencing difficult times in their family and or their ministry.
Each meeting always includes a time of prayer for the missionary families, and for those missionary families facing real challenges; a period of open discussion is held to share ideas which may be helpful. A BOM Sub-Committee oversees requests for and distribution of funds to BFC missionary families from the Buttress Fund. This fund exists as a result of contributions given by generous contributors to the Board of Missions in order to provide assistance to missionaries for personal support, emergency needs, and particular project initiatives.
The Board of Missions Staff
Below is a summary of the services offered by the Board of Missions (BOM) staff:
1. Missionary Care, Including Field Visits
We are available and willing to meet with those considering missionary service and with our missionaries who need advice or counsel regarding their ministry. Visits to fields of ministry are undertaken to assist and encourage our missionaries as needs and opportunities arise. Part of this missionary care includes communicating with over 40 mission sending boards under which the BFC s over 160 adult missionaries serve. This communication includes being an advocate for each of the BFC missionaries.
2. Seminars
The BOM offers a host of informational resources to BFC churches.
• Design Your Impact Workshop is a five-hour seminar that enables church leaders to discover their congregation’s key characteristics and resources (their DNA) and move toward identifying a strategic missions focus that can unleash a powerful, new, global dynamic from their church.
• Knowing God’s Will Seminars are conducted each year on a denominational level at a fall Retreat Within a Retreat (RWR) held at Pinebrook. This information is also useful as a weekend course for a youth group in a local church setting.
• P.O.M. (Parents of Missionary) Retreats is a weekend retreat seminar that is designed to keep the parents of our missionaries on track with the ministry of their sons and daughters (and grandchildren) overseas.
• Culture Link Seminars is a program that prepares your short-term missionary teams to be fully prepared for ministry. This is a necessary seminar for any church serious about getting the most from a cross-cultural experience.
• Speaker Resource is our office personnel being available for mission emphasis in local congregations. This includes all stated public worship services, Sunday School, mission conferences, and special events. The office also provides a complete listing on our website (see #3) of our missionaries that are currently available for your missionary event needs.
• Mentoring Services are available to assist a church’s board of elders and missions committee in developing a comprehensive, long range, and balanced outreach plan that uses every member in God s global cause.
• Short-term Planning Advice and Assistance is designed to help you and your church partner with your missionaries. Chris Merrick (Missions Projects Coordinator) and Nelson Randolph (Short-Term Partnership Coordinator) will assist with short-term missions trip and project planning.
3. Prayer Calendar
This publication provides current prayer information for your congregation. The new format is an attractive, readable prayer aid offered to churches at a reduced rate. Nearly 1900 are sent out each month.
4. Board of Missions Website
The BOM website is quickly becoming a focal point of information for everyone interested in missions in the BFC. This site continues to grow with useful information for the church leadership and anyone seeking God s direction for possible service through the Board of Missions. Personal support needs and biographical information are continually updated and available 24 hours a day. There are also helpful links for planning short-term or career missions involvement. You may log onto the site at www.bfcbom.org.
5. Email Subscriber Lists
• Daily Prayer is a daily e-mail that allows subscribers to view the Prayer Calendar request for the day, in addition to receiving up-to-the-minute news and prayer requests from the field.
• Friday Prayer is an in-depth prayer document produced each Friday and sent by e-mail. This communication, designed for missionary-to-missionary contact, is also available to a select group of other prayer partners.
• Tanzania Project Prayer Guide is a monthly guide to promote the Tanzania Project.
• “Let’s Fish is a newsletter, produced each Wednesday, and is designed to keep those interested in short-term missionary trips and possible career missionary involvement on the cutting edge. It is an outlet for the exchange of ideas, as well as prayer and ministry opportunities. This document enjoys a readership from ages fourteen years through adult, and includes pastors, missionaries, youth leaders, mission chair persons, laymen, and students. There is a readership of nearly 250 each week. A full archive is available on the BOM website.
6. May Missionary Rally
This annual gathering of missionaries and Bible Fellowship churches provides a world-wide panorama of missions, both local and overseas. It is an opportunity for networking and interaction among individuals as they endeavor to draw attention to God’s heart for the world in their churches. A children s program for Kindergarten through 12th grade has become a successful part of this day. This year’s rally will be held May 11th, 2012 at Cedar Crest BFC in Allentown
7. Missionary In-Residence at Pinebrook Bible Conference Summer Family Camp
The BOM provides a missionary family for each of the weeks of family camp to promote missions in the BFC Denomination. Each week the campers have opportunity to interact with a missionary from the BFC at a very personal level. Additionally, the missionaries have opportunity to present their ministries during public meetings.
8. Office Activities
The office remains the hub for donor and church information and financial processing. We compile and maintain all the necessary information to keep individuals and churches abreast of the financial needs of the entire missionary family. Receipting of financial donations is meticulously recorded for both the donor’s and the missionary’s records. Every month, checks are sent by the BOM to the sending boards for the amount of monies received for each BFC missionary serving under that particular board. Addresses and birthdays for the missionary families are kept up to date and extensive planning is undertaken for the annual Missions Rally.
9. Tanzania Project Fund Raising banquets
This year, along with the leadership of the Tanzania Project, the Board of Missions hosted two banquets in November, one in Allentown and one in Lancaster, in order to raise funds to assist with special projects that our missionary teams in Tanzania will be working on in the villages where they live. These banquets also served as a means to promote the work in Tanzania and featured a mini-concert, an update from project director John LoRusso and a chance to meet two new team members who expect to join the Matumbi team in 2013.
Thank you for your partnership in ministry!
Respectfully submitted by
Kevin Kirkpatrick, Board Member
Department – Board of Missions: Ralph M. Soper, Chairman; Dana E. Weller, Director; Daniel G. Oswald, Financial Secretary; Robert W. Davies Secretary; Donald S. Faust, Sue Figard, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Donald Kuntzman, Thomas P. Shorb, Kim Stengele, Craig Tress, Philip E. Yerrington
Missionary Units as of December 31, 2011
General Statistical Report on December 31, 2011
1. Number of Sending Boards under which our
missionaries are working. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
2. Number of countries in which our missionaries
are working. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3. Number of Missionaries:
Family Couples Singles Total
Units Adults
Active Missionaries 84 74 17 165
Leave of Absence 2 1 1 3
Appointees 5 2 3 7
Active Applicants 5 1 3 5
TOTALS 96 78 24 180
4. Geographical Areas where our missionaries are assigned and their number
Area Families Adults Countries
| USA | 34 | 64 | United States of America |
| North America | 4 | 10 | Canada, Mexico (excluding U.S.) |
| Central America | 4 | 7 | Costa Rica, Guadeloupe |
| Caribbean | 1 | 2 | Bonaire |
| South America | 2 | 3 | Bolivia, Brazil |
| Europe | 14 | 30 | Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Northern Ireland, Serbia, Spain, Spanish Canary Islands, UK |
| Africa | 11 | 16 | Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, 1 to be assigned (Sudan) |
| Asia | 11 | 20 | India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Ukraine |
| Southeast Asia& Pacific | 5 | 8 | Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia |
Candidates and Commissionings
The local church continues to produce world bound missionaries. This year the Board of Missions processed a number of new applications and approved candidates: Laura Beth Robison, Norm & Amanda Reynolds, Emily Wagner
Individuals Ending Their Active Missionary Service
Sarolta Solymosi went home to be with her Lord July 9, 2011 ending her earthly service
Annual Reports From Missionaries
Annual activity reports from missionaries will be sent out by the missionaries themselves. These reports for 2011 will be sent out in early 2012.
Dates To Mark On Your Calendar Of Events:
Friday, May 11th 2012 Conference-Wide Missionary Rally 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Cedar Crest BFC