October 2002 - Baptist General Conference Missions

Baptist General Conference Missions 

The Baptist General Conference has inherited a rich legacy from those early days and from the vigorous faith of their Swedish immigrant founders. The Baptist General Conference celebrates that history as their core values and historic Baptist distinctives continue to shape their labors for God and His kingdom. Yet they are a different people with many contemporary strategies for carrying out God's work.

The BGC transitioned from a predominantly Swedish-speaking people to English-language-centered worship, preaching and publishing. Over the past few decades their ethnic diversity has grown to embrace many cultural groups. Today BGCers in the U.S. worship in Spanish, Filipino languages, Haitian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Laotian and several other languages. God has transformed us into a diverse family of 19 ethnic cultures, with all the life, vigor and challenges that implies.

The BGC's historic involvement in sending missionaries abroad, with more than 100 entering world missions prior to 1944, when the BGC voted to initiate its own overseas mission program.   

Ever since Johanna Anderson sailed for Burma in 1888, the BGC has been committed to reaching the lost overseas.   This means they send missionaries and work in kingdom-building partnerships with indigenous missionaries and agencies in 19 countries.

They start churches, including  many among unreached people groups, train pastors and church leaders, provide compassionate health care services, and use many creative ways to gain access for the gospel in restricted countries.

Today you can find BGC missionaries in Central and South America; southern Europe and former Eastern Bloc nations; western and eastern Africa; Muslim north Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia; the Indian subcontinent and the Asian Pacific rim.
 

In addition to traditional church planting, theological training and medical ministries, BGC missionaries engage in a wide variety of contemporary strategies, including:

• supporting an array of national missionaries
• cooperating with other agencies and indigenous Baptist fellowships
• targeting 25 unreached people groups for evangelism and church planting
• taking the gospel to the world's largest cities
• gaining access in restricted countries through literacy programs, satellite broadcasting and radio, computer training, conversational English programs, veterinary care, water and agricultural development, health programs, small-enterprise loans to the poor, child sponsorship, sports outreaches and translation and literacy
• assisting churches in recruiting and sending short-term and career missionaries

Through TeAMerica, they continue to assist the 13 district offices in their efforts to start churches throughout the United States. All these ministries are coordinated by our global church planting division.

The BGC organized nationally. In addition to starting churches, districts provide- many services to assist congregations in fulfilling God's mission- for their communities: pastoral placement, care and counselling; ministry- consultation (women, men, children, youth, older adults, parenting, church conflict resolution); seminars and resources (revitalization and renewal, finances, leader training); camping and retreats; missions opportunities.
The global church enrichment division of the national office assists churches by providing consultation, events and resources for:

strategic planning/revitalization	older adult ministries
pastoral care and enrichment	prayer ministries
women's ministries	multicultural ministries
student ministries	chaplain/social agency endorsement
Christian education

To find out more about this Mission Agency go to their website at www.bgcworld.org.