Where do I begin? A flood of memories waft through my mind as I look back on the 42 years that I have been blessed in serving as a member on the Baptist World Mission board of directors. Dr. Monroe Parker was the General Director of BWM when I first joined the board, and I cannot forget meeting around his desk in a small office in Decatur, Alabama, in what was an executive committee meeting with a half-dozen or so other board members with the General Director. I must have pinched myself a couple of times as I felt like a pigmy in the land of giants. But, Dr. Parker, with his slight lisp and southern draw, soon made me feel comfortable, and lunch that day at the Director’s favorite place for a mid-day meal, Bob’s Barbeque in Decatur, Alabama, was all that I needed to feel right “at home.”
There have been scores of meetings since, under the leadership of Dr. Parker, his able successor, Executive Director, Dr. Fred Moritz, then the adroit administrator, Dr. Bud Steadman, and now the seasoned missionary whom God has moved from the field of Cameroon to the home office to lead 300 plus missionaries, a wholly dedicated staff of field administrators and office personnel, and a board of 32 pastors who assemble a couple of times a year to encourage missionaries, appoint new ones, and to give direction to the board administrators. I have found Baptist World Mission to be a servant of local churches in assisting them in getting their ambassadors out to the four corners of the earth in ways that are incalculably valuable.
The fellowship that has been a hallmark of these board gatherings has been cherished through the years, not only for the pastors who gather with other pastors and missionaries, but for our wives who, as Ellen, come to the meetings as often as possible. Not a few of the meetings have been held in the quaint (and at one time, I think, laid-back) town of Decatur, a charming southern city. Our friends, now with the Lord, Pastor Collins Glenn and his wife, Durienne, from Muncie, IN, used to look forward to going with us to certain clothing and shoe stores in Decatur between board sessions, where Pastor Glenn, a one-time Georgia haberdasher, would always leave with a new sport coat or pair of sharp shoes that would, somewhere down the way, set him off as one of the best-dressed preachers in any meeting. He just had a flair for what would look sharp, and all who knew him would attest that he “wore it well!” All of the pastors and wives relished the coffee times and fellowship before and after the plenary meetings.
And the meetings! How instructive to hear the distilled wisdom of pastors from across America who shepherded congregations that majored in missions. Their counsel was out of hearts aflame for world evangelization and full of love, respect and utmost esteem for God’s servants who had been set apart by the Holy Spirit and sent by local churches to perpetuate the fulfilling of that Great Commission that Christ left the Church He founded, and is building. Hearing the burden and feeling the excitement of missionaries who were called and ready to go to the fields of the world, was both humbling and life-changing for this pastor.
Just one of scores of examples now comes to mind. I believe it was at Suburban Baptist Church in Indianapolis in 1985. A pastor and his wife from Illinois had answered God’s call to go to Brazil with the life-saving gospel message. Roger and Sharon Crowder shared their story how that God had led them to leave their home and homeland to answer the Holy Spirit’s directive. It was with wonder that the pastors present listened as Roger shared how that his wife had been afflicted with a crippling disease, having for a time been incapacitated and wheel chair bound; but that God had healed her and she was able to function. I for one just questioned in my heart how this sincere husband and wife could even think about going to a foreign country to labor, having come through what they had experienced. Well, that was thirty years or more ago. The Crowders did go and their labors abounded to the glory of God and they are now home in Huntsville, Alabama, still serving God, but in a “retirement” mode. And that is just one of a myriad of testimonies I could share to the glory of God!
I never came home from a meeting with other board members and the BWM staff but that I was excited to share with our church here in Indianapolis. One year, 1985, our church had the privilege of hosting the annual meeting of BWM. The keynote speakers were Dr. Monroe Parker, Dr. Fred Moritz, Dr. Ed Nelson, Dr. Wayne Van Gelderen, Sr., and Dr. Tom Malone, all giants for God. Ralph McGilvra, long-time soloist on Oliver B. Greene’s “Gospel Hour” broadcast, was our conference music director. LaBelles, Hallecks, Duttons, Kimbles, Johnsons, Crowders, Lears, Grimes and other missionaries shared their vision and burden with us for world missions. Nothing will meld the hearts of God’s people with missions and missionaries quite like having such a conference which is a “taste of heaven!”
Well, that’s a brief look back at my first 42 years as a BWM board member. I loathe the thought of reckoning with the probability that it is time to pass the torch on so that a younger pastor can enjoy something of what I have been enjoying for more than four decades. That time for me is near. But even then I will always, as long as I can think clearly, look back with precious memories of mingling testimonies, tears and thanksgiving with some of God’s choicest ambassadors, all of which has, to this unworthy servant, proven to be nothing short of priceless.
YOU and GOD 