MISSION CONFERENCE DESIGN PACKS
By Mike Esquibel || Media Manager
The purpose of our Mission Conference Design Packs is to provide pastors, staff, and leaders the resources to promote missions within the local church. With editable graphics and video elements, churches can customize the look and theme to t speci c needs and help promote missions throughout the entire year.
Four Design Packs are already available to churches that support the BBFI Mission O ce at $100 per month. Since we launched the Design Packs in May 2017, pastors have expressed how thankful they are for access to a great-looking, well-thought-out, and time-saving resource. For more information, contact me and I’ll be happy to share how you can utilize these designs within your church.
KIDZ4MKZ
By Jill Wolf || Project Manager
The Kidz4MKz program was launched in 2017 to connect children attending VBS or another children’s program, with BBFI missionary kids around the world. Using videos, MK Collector Prayer Cards, and Prayer Reminder Bands, over 4,000 children were given insight into the life of an MK and challenged to be a missionary to the world in which they live.
Offerings collected during these programs were sent to the BBFI Mission O ce MK program and used to help MKs purchase equipment and musical instruments for their own ministry. Funds were also used to provide MKs a special nancial gift on their birthdays.
The Kidz4Mkz component can be added to Awana, children’s church, mission conferences, camp, kids choir – literally anytime you have children gathered for a structured program. Plans are underway to add a mission’s lesson component within the 2018 Kidz4MKz program.
ONLINE GIVING
By Tammy Fite || HR/Accounts Payable
In 2011, the Mission Office created a platform for churches and individuals to submit their contributions online. The donor has full control over how their donation is dispensed, thereby reducing the margin for errors resulting from incomplete or missing information. Donors have the ability to give one-time gifts, duplicate previous donations, or set up recurring transactions through the secure site. Electronic donation receipts also reduce the Mission Office’s printing and postage expenses.
Processing of online gifts is not nalized until the funds have been received by our bank – generally 3 to 5 business days. Missionaries will not be able to view gifts until the transactions are posted. Please keep in mind that in order for donations to be posted to missionary accounts, funds must be received by the third to the last business day of the month. As always, 100% of each contribution is given to missionaries.
*The Mission Office encourages all donors to rst give through their local church.
BBFI MISSIONS APP
By Kena Mann || IT Manager
Available for Apple and Android devices, the BBFI Missions app easily connects users to the Mission Office and the BBFI missionaries with four main tabs at the top of the app.
Events. Here you can nd all Mission Office events, contribution cut off dates, and hours of operation (including holiday closures).
Connect. Under this tab you can contact the Mission Office, search missionaries by name or country, search missionaries by using a map, and find links to the Mission Office websites. Under the “Connect” tab, each missionary has a profile that includes a picture, field of service, sending church, and email address. Some missionary profiles have a short bio, along with questions and answers, to get to know them better – their favorite books, where they like to eat or shop, why they surrendered to missions, what their favorite verse is, etc. Users can “favorite” missionaries to connect quicker via the pop- out menu.
Watch. See videos about the Mission Office and missionaries around the world.
More. Here you can nd the Mission Office’s purpose statement along with contact information.
App notifications can be found under the pop-out menu in case a user has either turned off notifications or missed a notification.
Quick links to our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channel are listed at the top of the app to allow users to connect quickly to our social media.
WORLD MISSION FORUM
By Craig Stevenson
In April 2017, the Mission Office challenged the students and faculty of Baptist Bible College to think “Beyond Borders” at the World Mission Forum. Breakout sessions, main sessions, and special events were all hosted at the Mission O ce. Matt Keller, pastor of Calvary Bible Baptist Church in Columbus, OH, was the main speaker and his series through the story of Jonah challenged the students to renew their desire to be involved in world missions. One evening was themed International Prayer Night and included messages on why we pray and how to pray for our missionaries. The night was capped o with prayer and an international food sampling. The Mission Office staff is proud to partner with Baptist Bible College for the World Mission Forum each Spring.
MISSION TRIPS
By Craig Stevenson
The BBFI Mission Office has five areas of importance that drive all mission trips.
- Be a blessing to the host missionary and their family.
- Be challenging and spiritually impactful for trip participants.
- Be focused on relationships with people regardless of the type of ministry.
- Be focused on spreading the Gospel.
- Be focused on the history and culture of the country with an understanding of how that i s impacts the Gospel.
With those in mind, the BBFI Mission Office led a team of 28 individuals from six states on a mission trip to Romania in July 2017. Our team served in a
VBS and a family carnival in the church in the village of Rogova that saw close to 150 kids hear the Gospel, play games, and get connected to believers in their community. We also had the privilege of clearing out the backyard of the church for use as an outdoor play area for children, as well as nishing a youth room that will be used to reach teenagers for years to come.
In the city of Severin, our team provided a family carnival and had over 100 children (plus family members) attend. They heard the Gospel, played games, and connected with our missionaries and other believers in the church.
After ve days of ministry, we drove to the central part of Romania to visit several famous places including the Bran Castle (Dracula’s Castle), the city of Brasov, and the Peles Castle. It was an incredible trip that we trust will have a lasting impact on the Romanian people as well as the American team that came together for the purpose of reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.