The Baptist Bible Fellowship International met on the campus of Mission University in Springfield, MO, April 30 – May 3, 2024. This year’s meeting theme was “Apologetics,” and featured international experts on the subject. It was a week full of preaching, approving new missionaries, approving new church planters, conducting important business, honoring graduates, and fellowship. The week will likely be remembered for two historic changes, however. First, this was the first May Fellowship Meeting hosted at Mission University rather than Baptist Bible College. President Milioni spent time on Tuesday night addressing the name change. You can watch his presentation by clicking here. Second, this was the first May Fellowship Meeting with the BBFI Mission Office located at its new property on the west side of Springfield.
Apologetics the Focus of the Preaching
There were four keynote speakers throughout the week. Jeremiah J. Johnston is a New Testament scholar, pastor, author, nationally syndicated radio host, Bible teacher, and apologist, and he ministers internationally as president of the Christian Thinkers Society. Dan DeWitt is a Senior Fellow and Executive Director of the Center for Worldview Analysis and Cultural Engagement and Professor of Worldview and Culture at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO. David Liles has been a BBFI missionary to Peru since 1994. David Botts is a theology and apologetics professor at Mission University. Jeremiah Johnston’s first message was based on Galatians 3:28 (you can watch this message by clicking here). His second message was based on I Corinthians 15 (you can watch this message by clicking here). Dan DeWitt’s first message was based on John 14 ((you can watch this message by clicking here). His second message was based on Colossians 2 (you can watch this message by clicking here). David Liles spoke on the importance of apologetics on the mission field (you can watch this message by clicking here). David Botts based his message on II Timothy 3 (you can watch this message by clicking here).
A unique feature of the Thursday evening service was a presentation of an authentic Torah. This Torah was donated to Mission University by a non-profit called God’s Ancient Library. The Torah is a non-kosher scroll that has been taken out of service. President Milioni commented on the Torah, “It is very rare, believed to be around 200 years old, this scroll is from either Germany or Hungary. While not much else is known about this Torah, research is still being done on it. This Torah is a gift that is given to bless our students, our school, and our Fellowship.”
Missions Take Center Stage
The heartbeat of the BBFI is missions, and missions is a primary focus at every National Fellowship Meeting. During Fellowship Week this includes the Mission Office staff sharing reports with the Executive Committee and State Representatives, the BBFI Field Reps meeting with missionary candidates and their sending pastors, and of course “Missions Morning.” This year, three couples were approved as career missionaries, and three World Initiative Network (W.I.N.) missionaries were recognized. Two of the new career missionary couples will be serving in Creative Access Nations. To learn more about them, please contact the BBFI Mission Office. The third newly approved career missionary couple is Dawson and Kayla Schoening. They were approved as missionaries to Cape Town, South Africa. Their sending church is Cornerstone Baptist Church in Mesquite, TX. (You can watch their approval by clicking here.)
In addition to approving new missionaries, two missionary couples were honored for their decades of missionary service.
- David and Tonya Liles, missionaries to Peru, were recognized for 30 years of missionary service. (You can watch their recognition by clicking here.
- Lonnie and Martha Smith, missionaries to Mexico, were recognized for 50 years of missionary service. (You can watch their recognition by clicking here.)
The Mission Office also shared very encouraging reports from the 2023 missionary reports.
- 57, 621 professions of Faith
- 13,984 baptisms
- 6,190 leaders in training
- 771 new missions or Bible studies
- 105 churches Organized
- $31,884,285.08 combined giving through the BBFI Mission Office
The Mission Office announced its newest Project 938 Documentary on the life of missionary Bob Hughes. The plan is for this documentary to be available in September 2024. You can watch the trailer for this video by clicking here.
For many, the highlight of the week was the grand opening of the new BBFI Mission Office located at 4100 West World Mission Avenue in Springfield, MO, on Thursday, May 2, 2024. An estimated 350 people attended the ribbon cutting and dedication service, including Springfield mayor Ken McClure, Greene County Commissionaires Bob Dixon and Rusty MacLachlan, and Commerce Bank president Keith Noble. All guests were treated to a BBQ lunch and invited to tour the new facilities. You can watch a recap of the BBFI Mission Office grand opening by clicking here.
Church Planting Continues to Grow
BBFI 3rd Vice-President, Randy Abell, continued to tell the good news about the Good News and what God is doing in church planting throughout the BBFI. Abell reported that APEX, a BBFI-approved assessment and coaching ministry led by Terry Kizer, saw a 30% increase in funding over the past two years. Enough money was raised to provide a one-time donation of $1,000 to each newly approved church planter. In 2023, over $300,000 was given to church plants through BBFI churches and State Fellowships.
There were four new church planters approved and presented.
- Blake Housley will be planting a new church in Nashville, TN.
- Sean and Susan Adkins are planting Beacon Church in Blanchard, OK.
- Julian and Melissa Martinez are planting Port Arthur Fellowship in Port Arthur, TX.
- Court and Kara Holloway are planting Shores Church in Wells, ME.
There were also two church planters who gave an update on their ministry. These were Chase Hill, pastor of Gospel Life Church in Wichita, KS and Tyler Martin, pastor of Outfitter Church in Bar Nun, WY.
To watch the entire Church Planting Hour, click here.
To watch a shortened highlight video of Church Planting Hour, click here.
On Wednesday, all church planters were invited to lunch together for connection and encouragement. Over 20 attended the lunch. Abell shared, “I just love being around church planters.”
Fellowship at a Fellowship Meeting
Space for fellowship is both intentional and important. On Tuesday night, following the service was a Celebration Reception to celebrate the renaming of Baptist Bible College to Mission University. During Wednesday’s business meeting, there was a special fellowship just for the ladies in attendance. Wednesday night, the university provided a local favorite, Pineapple Whip, for everyone in the student center.
There were two important fellowship meetings that took place during the week. On Wednesday afternoon, Mission University hosted the third gathering of the Fellowship of Retired Ministers. Don Elmore led the charge to launch this new ministry in 2022. Over 60 men and women enjoyed a great time of fellowship, a great lunch in the Presidential Dining Hall, great singing, and a brief challenge by Jim Baize. Baize shared his story of retirement at Midway Baptist Church and his new redeployment as pastor of First Baptist Church of Coronado on Coronado Island in Southern California. He reminded all in attendance that even though you may be retired, God can and will still use you. Following Baize’s challenge and the meeting the decision was made to rename the group the Fellowship of Redeployed Ministers.
The other important fellowship meeting that took place was the annual Mission University Alumni Breakfast. There were two important announcements from this meeting. Mission University is asking all alumni to update their records with the university. If you are a graduate of Baptist Bible College, now Mission University, will you take a couple of minutes to update your records by clicking here and completing a short form? The second announcement is an upcoming Alumni Cares event on the campus of Mission University on July 23-27, 2024. The goal of this week is to help prepare the campus for the opening week of the fall semester. This project includes painting, landscaping, and demolition. To learn more about how you can help, click here.
Business
BBFI president Jon Haley led the business meeting on Wednesday afternoon. Each vice president and each BBFI entity leader took time to provide reports. The most important business was the approval of the ballot for BBFI National Officers (the Executive Committee of the Fellowship). These officers will serve from 2024 to 2026. The ballot was formed during the State Representative meeting on Tuesday afternoon (April 30, 2024) and presented for approval to the National Fellowship. The ballot was approved with no questions. Those present who were eligible to vote could submit their ballot during the business meeting. Those who were not present or did not submit their ballot can visit the BBFI website and request a ballot to download and mail back to the BBFI Mission Office following the instructions on the ballot. All submitted ballots must be postmarked by July 1, 2024, to be counted. Ballots will be counted the first half of July, and the results will be communicated on both the BBFI website (www.bbfi.org) and the Tribune website (www.tribune.org).
The men on this year’s ballot include:
President
Jon Haley – Pastor of Hallmark Church in Fort Worth, TX
1st VP (Missions)
Dustin Janney – Pastor of Orlando Baptist Church in Orlando, FL
Tracy Roby – Pastor of Overland Park Baptist Church in Overland Park, KS
2nd VP (Education)
Kevin Carson – Pastor of Sonrise Baptist Church in Ozark, MO
3rd VP (Church Planting)
Randy Abell – Pastor of Heartland Baptist Church in Ames, IA
Joey Candillo – Pastor of Grace Church in Independence, MO
4th VP (Church Development)
John Decker – Pastor of MorningStar Baptist Church in Centerville, OH
Phil Housley – Pastor of Park Crest Baptist Church in Springfield, MO
Secretary
Bob Stephenson – Pastor of Graceway Baptist Church Church in Springfield, MO
Treasurer
Dean Hughes – Pastor of East Side Baptist Church in Topeka, KS
Click here to learn more about each candidate and to request an official ballot.
Graduation
For many, Friday morning was the highlight of the week as Mission University held its 74th commencement. Jim Baize, a 1970 graduate of Baptist Bible College and founding pastor of Midway Baptist Church in San Diego, CA, provided the commencement address. Baize was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Mission University.
To watch the entire graduation commencement, click here.
To watch the commencement address from Jim Baize, click here.
Other graduate awards included:
Institutional Awards
- Delta Epsilon Chi ABHE Honor Society Award – Emma Mulford, Josie Sullivan, Hannah, Triggs, and Jeffrey McCaskill
- Male Christian Service Award – Isak Slayden
- Female Christian Service Award – Lindsey Shelby
- Male Key Award – Kevin Bryan
- Female Key Award – Emma Mulford, Morgan Todd
- Male Scholar Athlete – Jacob Johnson
- Female Scholar Athlete – Madilynn Cole
Departmental Awards – Undergraduate
- Biblical Studies Award – Benjamin Hamblett
- Church Ministry Award – Emma Mulford
- Fred Donnelson Award (Missions) – Noah Hamilton
- Education Award – Madilynn Cole
- Business Award – Cassie Vestal
- Professional Studies Award – Morgan Todd
- Pastoral Studies Award – Kevin Bryan
Departmental Awards – Graduate
- Biblical Counseling – Darrell Johnson
- Seminary – Zach Stewart
- MDiv – Zach Stewart
Upcoming Meetings
- September 16-18, 2024 – Annual Fellowship Meeting in Rapid City, SD
- April 29 – May 2, 2025 – Fellowship Week at Mission University
- September 2025 – Annual Fellowship Meeting at Central Baptist Church in Tyler, TX
