by Randy Harp
It seems every month as we are approaching our print deadline I have to ask our staff, “How are we going to fit everything in?” This issue may have been our greatest challenge to date. A couple months ago I began the process of setting themes for each of our upcoming issues. My thought for May was the theme “The Fellowship.” As we started working through the content and layout, I quickly realized there would be no way to adequately cover all there is to cover on the Fellowship in one issue. Add to that attempting to do justice on telling all that was experienced at the Global Fellowship Meeting in Seoul, Korea, and I just gave up. So, we decided to expand the theme “The Fellowship” into three total issues.
Each of these issues will focus on a different aspect of our Fellowship: missions, education, and church planting. In each issue we will also work toward clarifying exactly what the BBFI is and what it is not. For example, in this issue I wrote on the topic of our purpose for existence. I have researched through old archives of the Tribune as well as other documents to see what others throughout our history have had to share. There is remarkable consistency over the past 66 years on this topic.
With this issue we focus on the missions aspect of the Fellowship. This could not have been more enjoyable to focus on after seeing the direct results of our mission ministry during the Global Fellowship Meeting in Korea. I was not able to attend the previous global meeting in the Philippines, so it is impossible for me to compare the two, but I don’t know how a meeting could have been more encouraging. Our mission director Jon Konnerup, Korea BBF president Moo-Chul Moon, and host pastor Dr. Daniel Kim, along with the entire Korea BBF did an amazing job of organizing a meeting that, in my opinion, highlighted all the things we should focus on. First, missions was the highlight. Every sermon was on missions. Every song was on missions. Every testimony given was how missions resulted in life change. Hearing Dr. Kim’s emotional appreciation to the pastors of America for sending missionaries to Korea is something I will never forget. Second, this meeting showed what can happen when we partner together for the cause of Christ. In the recap video available on www.bbfi.org, John Barnes, missionary to Costa Rica, makes the statement, “I am not alone.” I love our motto for the BBFI, “Where no one stands alone.” Third, the fellowship was refreshing. There was a genuine spirit of encouragement. I greatly enjoyed meeting new people both from America and all around the world. It was a truly great experience!
We approached our reporting of this meeting slightly different. It is true a picture is worth a thousand words, but for this to be true, one has to understand the context of the picture. What I want people to read are the personal stories of their experience in Korea. There is no way to share the entire experience, but I pray that you will be encouraged as you see how God is at work through the BBFI.