BBFI September 2019 National Meeting

The fall meeting of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International was held September 16-18 at Oak Hill Baptist Church in Somerset, KY. Gary Phelps, his staff, and the entire church worked extremely hard to prepare for the meeting, literally completing some renovations to the front lobby the Friday before the meeting began. The church went far beyond physical preparations, however. Just as the BBFI took part in a 40-day fast leading up to the meeting, the church sponsored their own 40-day fast. Church members voluntarily selected one day during the 40 days leading up to the meeting to pray specifically for the BBFI and this week. The church broke the fast the Sunday night before the start of the meeting, observing communion. The church’s commitment to preparing both physically and spiritually was clear. Many comments were heard during the week, similar to, “There is just something different this week.”

Services and Speakers

Attending the services was like a breath of fresh air. Larry Buchanan, the gifted worship pastor, mixed in a good balance of modern worship along with several reflective hymns. No one that attended Tuesday night’s service will forget the Kentucky version of “Ain’t no Grave.” There was also a good combination of speakers, including pastors, missionaries, and a seminary president. Phil Housley, pastor of Park Crest Baptist in Springfield, MO, spoke Monday night. Mark Hoover, pastor of NewSpring Church in Wichita, KS, spoke Tuesday night. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke Wednesday night. Each night also included a challenge from a missionary. Esteban Alvarez, missionary to Uruguay, Josh Casey, missionary to Spain, and Bruce O’Neal, founder and president of MANNA Worldwide, each spoke. Tuesday morning included two more missionaries, Brian Weed, missionary to Nicaragua, and Lance Gotcher, missionary to the Philippines. Wednesday morning featured Lonnie Lehrman, pastor of Granbury Baptist Church in Granbury, TX, followed by the annual mission’s morning with Jon Konnerup, BBFI Mission Director speaking. The afternoons include multiple breakout sessions covering topics such as Financial Planning, Missions, Church Planting, Worship Ministry, Women’s Ministry, Small Groups, Youth Ministry, Children’s Ministry, and Church Revitalization.

Town Hall

One of the more highly anticipated events during the week was the town hall meeting on Monday afternoon hosted by the BBFI Executive Committee. BBFI president, Tim Adrian, was clear from the outset that no decisions were being made, and nothing would be voted on. The purpose of the meeting was simply to begin a dialogue regarding a few areas of the Fellowship. Three areas were discussed. The first was on the number of national meetings held each year. Under consideration is moving to one national meeting. The second area discussed was how to allow missionaries to have a voice in the Fellowship. There were several options considered ranging from allowing all missionaries an equal vote in all matters to electing a missionary to the executive committee to electing missionaries to the state representative level of authority. The third area discussed was on restructuring the governance of the state representatives. Again, no decisions were made on any of these discussions. The pastors, staff, and missionaries all handled themselves well, showing much respect for one another.

Missions Morning

Wednesday morning was designated as mission’s morning led by Jon Konnerup and the Mission Office staff. One new career missionary family was approved. Chris and Vallie Keeney were approved and will serve in Chile. Their sending church is Bible Baptist Church of Buffalo, MO. One new career missionary family was reinstated. Everyone was happy to see T and J Long reinstated to serve in the Middle East. You can learn more about their ministry by clicking here. There was also one field change with Donald and Phyllis Weeks transitioning to now serve in England. The 30-Year Pin was also given to Timothy and Kim LaLonde, missionaries to Canada.

BBC Students

Baptist Bible College brought several van loads of students to the meeting, around 40 in all. Several arrived the weekend prior to the meeting to help with a youth retreat hosted by Oak Hill Baptist. Throughout the week, the students also volunteered in various areas in the church. Oak Hill was very gracious and helped provide host homes for each of the students. BBC president, Mark Milioni, stated, “We want our students to know, understand and fall in love with our Fellowship. This is a small way we can help with that.”

Ark Encounter

Three of the largest Christian museums in America are the Creation Museum outside of Cincinnati, OH, the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY, and the Bible Museum in Washington, D.C. Over the past year, BBFI pastors, staff, and missionaries have been able to attend all three at the conclusion of the national meeting. This year, Answers in Genesis, the mother organization to the Ark Encounter, provided half-priced tickets to all the guests of the BBFI meeting. Oak Hill Baptist provided transportation for those that needed it. Over 75 visited the Ark Encounter on Thursday, including reserved front row seating for a presentation by Ken Ham.

Upcoming Meetings

February 2020 || Orlando Baptist Church, Orlando, FL (Dustin Janney)February 10-12
www.orlandobaptist.com/bbfi

May 2020–A Special Celebration Honoring 70 Years || Baptist Bible College (Mark Milioni)
May 4-7

Global Fellowship Meeting || San Jose, Costa Rica (Jon Konnerup and John Barnes)
July 6-9, 2020
www.bbficostarica2020.com