New currents in the Deep Blue Sea - Baptist Bible Tribune

Now, It Is High Time
By Jon Konnerup – BBFI Mission Director
With the Great Commission as our mandate,
the churches of our Fellowship have
forged ahead 60 years to reach our world with
the gospel. Only the Lord knows just how many
have been saved through our efforts. Hundreds
of thousands have been baptized. Thousands
have been taught to observe all things that God
has commanded and, in turn, are now reaching
out to their own people with the truth of Jesus
Christ and are planting churches.
In the last decade, we have seen the mission
efforts of the Baptist Bible Fellowship
come full circle. Fellowships have been started
in other parts of the world by those who have
understood their responsibility to do the same
in going beyond their borders, crossing cultures,
and sharing the precious name of Jesus.
We have seen this unfold in the Philippines,
South Korea, Japan, and in other countries.
In November 2010, another chapter of our
efforts opened. I had the opportunity to connect
with a large group of pastors and church
latin america
leaders from Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia,
Peru, Panama, El Salvador, Spain, and Guatemala
in Cuernavaca, Mexico, at the Rawlings
Foundation Highlands Camp. It was there they
gathered to join forces committing to reach the
unreached of our world.
At this first-ever Hispanic Baptist Bible
Fellowship meeting, 797 people gathered to
take up the challenge from the Word of God realizing
that now is their time to take the gospel
around the world. The theme of the meeting
came from Romans 13:11a:
And that, knowing the time, that now it is
high time to awake…
Emphasis was placed on NOW being the
time for Latin Americans to step up and play a
larger role in fulfilling the Great Commission.
National pastors and BBFI missionaries all
spoke of the tremendous need in the world and
the responsibility of all churches, even those in
Latin America, to reach out beyond themselves.
They were challenged to go to places which
those from North America cannot access. They
can adapt extremely well to other cultures and
enter areas that are more restricted to U.S. missionaries.
A mission leader for many years, Jack
Baskin, presented how God has worked in
Korea and the Philippines to propel them to
take up their part, and he asked why it could
not be the same in Latin America. Each service
generated great excitement. It was wonderful to
see the joy on the faces of those who attended
as they considered the fact that they too could
be part of something bigger, something worldwide,
and all with the power of God behind
them. At the end of the meeting, 38 Hispanics
went forward indicating God had called them
12 | Baptist Bible Tribune | February 2011
Jack Baskin
I felt that the meeting in Mexico was a tremendous success.
Jon Konnerup’s message on Monday evening was very timely
and set the direction for the meeting. Ed Hoagland, along with
the other American missionaries that attended the meetings,
cast a vision for the nationals to follow. I know it is thrilling to
them to see the national leaders taking their place and leading
their people to really get involved in world missions. Under the
leadership of Jon Konnerup and our missionaries, we are truly
becoming Baptist Bible Fellowship International.