by Jon Konnerup
The philosophy of BBFI missions has always been, and still remains, evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. The idea is churches start churches around the world by sending their own people as missionaries. This is the New Testament pattern.
We believe the local church is the hope of the world, designed by God to reach the world. Our first mission director, Fred Donnellson, said, “Make your church a headquarters for world missions.” Church planting is the most significant strategy in reaching people for Christ and raising people who will worship Him.
Making disciples is at the heart of everything we do. Everywhere we go we should preach the Gospel, disciple people, and plant churches. In Acts, we see the Apostle Paul sent out to establish new churches in unreached areas. These congregations were witnesses to their communities and became the “salt and light” Jesus referred to in Matthew 5:13-16.
Donnellson also said, “Go to the mission field and duplicate what you’re doing here at home.” The next step is leadership development. Our missionaries establish Bible institutes, colleges, and seminaries so national leaders learn more about biblical leadership and, in turn, start more Baptist churches.
As the national church grows in strength and maturity, the missionary gradually steps back and supports the church’s leadership initiatives. This means he mentors leaders and fills support roles while looking to start more churches.
The result of church planting is missions. After 66 years, we have seen this come full circle as churches in the Philippines, Korea, Kenya, Japan, and Brazil are now sending and supporting their own missionaries!