By Jonathan Montgomery

Our churches and pastors, church plants and missionaries, and BMA Missions and staff share one common goal: to make God’s glory and love known to every tribe, tongue, and nation. That is the heart of our association and the focus of the first value statement of BMA Missions. We are collectively motivated by the Mission of God.

Missionaries of the BMA are passionate about God’s mission to make Him known to all peoples. Some have traveled to far corners of the world to live in isolated villages where the name of Jesus has yet to be heard. Others live in more urban areas, planting churches that will reach both local peoples and international expats with the gospel. Every ministry of our BMA missionaries may look different, but each individual and family that serves our association of churches shares a zeal for proclaiming the good news of Jesus! 

Another shared characteristic is our caring support of missionaries as they navigate the good and bad days of ministry. The heart and focus of our Missionary Care ministry is to come alongside our missionaries with the aid, encouragement, and support they need to better allow them to carry out the Mission of God. 

Missionary Care also strives to prepare, equip, and minister to BMA missionaries so they can be fruitful in both life and ministry. Simply put, this vital ministry exists to serve our missionaries as they serve others. We are invested in caring for the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of our missionary families because they have invested themselves in caring for the needs of others. Missions Executive Director Dr. John David Smith has described our care team as “missionary medics” to those serving on the front lines worldwide.

This ministry of care has been making a big difference in the lives of BMA missionaries since it first began several years ago under the leadership of Jerry Kidd, one of our Legacy Missionaries and former directors. Bro. Kidd was assisted in those early days by Sarah Hebert Hamilton, whose experiences as a missionary to the Philippines burdened her heart to find ways to encourage her missionary friends and colleagues. Bro. Kidd and Sarah coordinated several regional conferences that allowed BMA missionaries to gather for worship, fellowship, and mutual encouragement. Stories are still being shared of how impactful these initial conferences were in fueling missionaries to press on in their labors for the Lord.

Conferences continue to be a central part of Missionary Care’s efforts to minister to our missionaries. A mini-conference was offered in the fall of 2020 to missionaries who were stateside and unable to return to their fields because of pandemic travel restrictions. An online soul care conference was produced in February at the Global Missions Center in Conway to be shared this spring with missionaries on the field. Plans are already underway to offer an in-person global gathering for this coming fall. Using these conferences to connect our missionaries to God through worship and to one another through fellowship will remain a goal of Missionary Care. 

In addition to conferences, Missionary Care provides other services for our global workers, such as counseling, coaching, and prayer support, essential aspects of this ministry. We offer assistance during each missionary’s period of deputation, departure, and furlough, but Missionary Care also helps them return to the States following their years of service on the field. During this reentry process, Missionary Care offers debriefing and connecting each missionary family member with a counselor to assist in processing their experiences and preparing for a healthy transition. 

We are currently developing procedures to help missionary kids prepare for college during their senior year of school should they choose to return and attend an American university. If a missionary family has a specific need, we do our very best to connect them with individuals or organizations trained to meet those needs. Whether it is something as simple as ensuring they have a vehicle during a furlough or something as critical as connecting them with a midwife to deliver their child in remote regions, we work hard to meet needs.

When the global pandemic began in 2020, BMA Missions was proactive in providing a new level of care, counsel, and concern during those unprecedented days. A team was assembled whose sole responsibility was to check on each missionary once a week to ensure that they and their families were safe and well. One BMA missionary serving in Asia-Pacific had a missionary colleague serving with another sending organization comment that he felt all alone on the field during the pandemic because no one was reaching out to her. The BMA missionary shared that this was not the case for her family because numerous individuals from the Missions office and our churches had been in close contact. They felt so well loved, valued, and cared for because of the many expressions of concern. Testimonials like this are a great reminder that the Missionary Care ministry of BMA Missions is making a difference in the lives of our dedicated servants around the world.

We are all motivated by the Mission of God, but one special characteristic of our BMA family is that we are motivated to support and care for our missionaries who work tirelessly to proclaim the gospel of Christ and advance the kingdom of God. They are passionate about making God’s glory and love known to the ends of the earth. We all recognize their sacrifices, so that is one key reason our churches are so faithful to support, encourage, and pray for our missionaries. May we all be motivated by the Mission of God, and may we never stop being motivated to care for our missionaries.