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October 12, 2019 • 9:00 a.m.
Bethel Baptist Church, Sikeston, MO

Please remember that we voted to change the date of our annual association meeting to the 2nd Saturday of October instead of the 4th Saturday (2018 Minutes, Page 31, Morning Session #5). Therefore this year’s meeting is on October 12th at Bethel Baptist Church in Sikeston.
Please read: the messages “from our Host Pastor and From our Moderator,” included in this article along with the “reminder about your church’s membership in the BMAMO,” in the dotted box at the end of this article; the message “from our Missions Director,” on page 3; the “recommendations of the Special Missions Committee”, also on page 3; and the “recommended overhaul of By-Law Article VI,” on page 5, so you can be prepared to attend this meeting informed, in the right spirit, and ready to contribute to the progression of the work God has for us in the Baptist Missionary Association of Missouri.

From Our Host Pastor…..
Bethel Baptist Church of Sikeston is honored to host the 2019 annual meeting of the BMA of MO. Sikeston has many hotels and restaurants to choose from, our church is located at 128 5th street in Sikeston. We will serve pastries, coffee, juice between 7:30-8:30 a.m. and lunch. We have meeting rooms if needed. Looking forward to seeing you and having a Spirit-filled meeting. You can contact me at 573-521-8028 or e-mail billydavis1990@yahoo.com.
Bro. Billy Davis

From Our Moderator….
Dear Churches of the BMA of the State of Missouri:
What an amazing year of ministry it has been for our churches and camp organizations. I heard great things from Bro. Brad Banderman of how God moved and showed up at Camp Garwood through spiritual decisions made and salvations experienced and the great fun that was had by kids and adults alike.
The State Meeting is always an excellent time to hear our many department’s reports and to catch the excitement of our directors and leaders.
We had an amazing mid-year meeting at Springfield with Bro. Gary Longstaff and Grandview Baptist Church, And I know we will with Bro. Davis and Bethel Baptist Church in Sikeston.
Please, oh, PLEASE make plans to attend. And please pray for a peaceful and harmonious meeting and for God’s Spirit to be felt by all.
Bro. Ben Kingston

Reminder About Your Church’s Membership in the BMAMO
As part of the organizational structure of our State Association (see By-Laws on page 10 of 2018 Minutes Article III – Membership #3) we need to hear from our cooperating churches each year. This is accomplished by receiving a letter of representation from each church and by seating their messenger(s) if present in our annual meeting. This not only helps our cooperative work statistically but also assures each church who cooperates of strength and protection through being united with others of like faith and order. According to this by-law a church who does not send a letter and/or messengers for three consecutive years will be considered as having terminated her membership in the Association. Our clerk indicates that at the present time we have three churches who have not represented for two years and need to represent this year to avoid terminating their membership in the BMA of MO. Please help us by representing at the annual meeting this year.

Very Important Statistics
Professions of Faith — 15
Registered Campers — 308
Daily Visitors (not registered) — 70 – 80

Classroom attendance:
Under 5 years old — 9 students
6-7 years old — 10 students
8-9 years old — 25 students
10-12 year old girls — 38 students
10-12 year old boys — 22 students
High school girls — 64 students
High school boys — 48 students
Total: 216

The Semi-Annual Meeting of the BMA of Missouri met at Grandview Baptist Church, Springfield, May 18th. One of the highlights of the meeting was the growing anticipation of a new missionary, Bro. Dustin Wisely, coming to our state to work in the Columbia area. Bro. Wisely is entering the field as a missionary commissioned by and under the immediate direction of his home church, First Baptist, Magnolia, AR. The State and Meramec Associations are cooperating with First Baptist, Magnolia, to help provide a solid foundation for this work to become well established in our state.

Saturday morning Pastor Gary Longstaff welcomed the Association to Grandview. For the morning devotional Missionary-elect Wisely picked up where he had left off the night before as he energetically spoke on Being Madmen for the Gospel. After Moderator Ben Kingston called the meeting to order,a petitionary letter was accepted from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church of Belgrade.

The Association approved the Special Missions Committee recommendation to help support Bro. Dustin Wisely’s mission work in Columbia. The Association voted to give $2,000 per month, designated for salary, beginning the first of 2020. As that work develops we will monitor the need to provide work fund support as well. In response to a question raised in October about the Association’s liability concerns, the Special Missions Committee also made a recommendation to amend our bylaws (Article VI (Officers) Section 3) as follows (underlined portion added to the existing section):
The duties of the officers shall be such as usually devolve on such officers of a deliberative body. Officers are, however, not authorized to speak or act as an authority at any time on behalf of the Association for any matter to which the Association has not directly spoken. The body approved this change. The Special Missions Committee will be continuing their work on this project.

Highlights from the various department reports included….

Missouri Missionary Baptist Loan Program:
Treasurer David Griggs gave the financial report followed by President Dennis Baker’s report in which he noted the need for our church to give special offerings to the Grant Fund in order that we might be able to help churches with emergency funds when needed.

Camp Garwood:
Camp Director Chris Polk noted the camp schedule for this year and pointed out that no new projects would be started this summer due to lack of funds, but that some projects already started would be completed. He noted that much help is needed to get everything ready for use this year.

Alive:
The date for this year’s Alive Conference is December 29 – 31, at Chesterfield, Missouri.

Missouri Missionary Baptist:
Editor Jim Hoffmann reported that increased monthly offerings are needed or we will have to have a special drive to raise funds in a few months as our income has fallen seriously the first part of this year.

Miscellaneous:
The messengers voted to sponsor another Renewal Retreat with Bro. Ben Kingston as the leader.

After all business was completed, Bro. Ben Kingston gave the annual message, On Being a Man after God’s Own Heart, from Acts 13:22. Following the message all pastors met with missionary-elect Dustin Wisely in the altar for a time of prayer specifically for him and his missionary work in our state. We then enjoyed food and fellowship as the church provided the noon meal.

by Don Burke, Clerk

The annual Missions Symposium of the BMA of Missouri met at Grandview Baptist Church in Springfield May 17th at 6:30 p.m. Pastor Gary Longstaff and Grandview Church in cooperation with our Missions Director had made preparation for this meeting and God blessed their efforts in a mighty way!
The atmosphere was comfortable, the music was uplifting, and the program participants were very inspirational. Many said this was one of the best symposiums we have had in a long time. Everyone seemed to be glad they were there. We did not count the attendance, but estimate there were 70 to 80 present from several of our churches.
Following some lively congregational singing, Pastor Longstaff extended a warm welcome to all present. Special singing was enjoyed at various times during the service and our three speakers challenged and blessed us with their excellent presentations illustrating the Symposium theme “The Privilege of Missions.”
Bro. Bill Hathaway, former missionary to Japan, blessed us with memories of planting churches in Japan for many years and how he has been “Enjoying Missions” for many years in Japan and is now enjoying working with a Japanese outreach at Grandview in Springfield.
Bro. Melvin Meade, former missionary to the Philippines, inspired us with a demonstration using some millstones he brought from the Philippines. He shared how he had many experiences in “Learning from Missions” including how the women had to daily grind corn for the meals they prepared. He gave some scriptural applications that caused us to look within ourselves and our relationship with God.
Bro. Dustin Wisely, missionary-elect to Columbia Missouri, endeared himself to us as he shared what he feels God wants him to do in Columbia as he looks forward to “Growing Through Missions” by depending on God’s faithfulness.
A spirit of renewal seemed to permeate our hearts as we left the service that night and looked forward to meeting for the mid-year meeting of the BMAMO the next morning.
Our heartfelt thanks to Grandview Church and each one who participated in the program and a special thanks to all who attended this meeting.
Let’s pray for the work of Missions in Missouri and look forward to reaping the harvest God has for us in our local churches across this state as we seek to do His Will.
Pray for the men who spoke to us about the “Privilege of Missions” as they are each still involved in the Lord’s Work!

by Jim Hoffmann, Mission Director