For seventy-five years, BMA Global Missions has been a testament to God’s faithfulness, weaving a story of sacrifice, transformation, and hope across generations. Reflecting on its rich history, one cannot help but feel a deep sense of nostalgia—images of missionaries embracing foreign cultures, building bridges of trust, and planting seeds of faith come to mind.

Life as a missionary in Brazil in the 1950s was quite an experience with travel by foot, bus, train, and riverboat to carry the gospel. But for John Elliott, seeing lives transformed by the light of Jesus was worth it. He was one of those missionaries who trusted God to provide his needs. Later, Harriet became a missionary’s wife and joined him on the mission field, together working to tell the story of Jesus.

I was invited by Pastor Jarede to speak for a few minutes about Pastor Rufus Crawford, but I have already encountered a major problem: how to summarize, in so few words, the life of a great missionary? Nonetheless, let's talk about some traits of Pastor Rufus and a little information about the great work he accomplished.

In 1965, a visionary named Harold Morris, the first missionary commissioned by the Baptist Missionary Association (BMA), set out to change the way the gospel was spread. After retiring from his mission field in Brazil due to health concerns, Morris had a bold new idea: using media to reach the masses with the message of Christ. He launched the Harvest Gleaner Gospel Hour (HGH) in St. Louis, with a clear mission—to “make Jesus known to the multitudes.”