BBFI Missions 1968 – 1986

(This is the second segment in the series of BBFI Mission history.  For the first article click HERE.)

In 1968, Dr. Jack Bridges became our second Mission Director following the retirement of Dr. Donnelson. He served the Lord in that capacity for five years. He had served as a pastor of a strong mission-minded church.

Europeans had the Gospel for centuries before we did in the United States. However, in 1962 BBFI missionaries began to go back to Europe.  Tommy and Donna Duniho, Joe and Mary Ann Mohler and Paul and Alexis Dedeyan were some of our first missionaries to Europe. They went to countries filled with people who knew religion but did not fully realize their great need of a Savior. In 1990, when the Eastern European communist countries began to open up to the Western world and the Berlin wall was physically dismantled, we initiated a major push to get missionaries into Eastern Europe entering more countries which were previously closed to us. Now in Europe, the Baptist Bible Fellowship has 129 missionaries in 16 countries.

Faithful American church members are the ones who have given sacrificially through their local churches to send missionaries all around the world – we are all in this together. This concept of a unified effort was strongly pushed by our third Mission Director (1972-1986), Dr. Carl Boonstra. He used the Swahili phrase “Harambee” which means “let’s all pull together.” 

Oceania is the name given to the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. Places like Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand saw Burl and Jackie Nelson, Marvin and Pat Matthews, Charles and Pat Moseley, and Loran and Jeanine McAlister arrive as some of our missionaries. The BBFI has had missionaries in some of these countries since 1957 and some have had great results. Nevertheless, these countries are not extremely receptive to the Gospel. Because of this fact, our missionaries have had to work hard in order to plant churches in this part of the world. Today we have 40 missionaries in this region of the world.  With the European and Oceania expansion in the reach of BBFI missions, God was only getting started.

(to be continued)