By Dr. John David Smith, President of BMA Global

With humble beginnings and a great focus on God’s mission, BMA Global began in 1950 through the efforts of the churches of the newly formed Baptist Missionary Association of America (NABA at the time). That first year, there were six North American church planters and two international missionaries elected. All glory to God, that through the years of faithfulness and focus on that great mission, BMA Global has grown to a ministry of over 400 missionaries working in 70 countries of the world. Hundreds of thousands have been reached with the gospel, discipled, trained, and empowered toward a church planting ministry that now includes well over 2,000 established churches in addition to 400 current church plants.  

The mission of BMA Global is to see God’s glory and love to the nations through church multiplication. Our values must reflect in writing, and in practice, that everything we do leads to the fulfillment of our purpose/mission. BMA Global is motivated by the Mission of God. God’s Mission (singular) is indeed all about his glory and love to all nations. Missions (plural) is everything we do, such as evangelism, discipleship, church planting, leadership development, and all philanthropic efforts to fulfill that Mission. BMA Global practices discipleship-based multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches. In following the example of Christ in his ministry, we seek to make disciple makers who will then be leaders and the foundation for church multiplication. BMA Global is local church-centric. We believe that local churches are both the source and the goal of New Testament missions. BMA Global practices indigenous mission principles. We invest heavily in the local leadership in order to partner for locally led ministries that will not be dependent on us intellectually, emotionally, or financially. BMA Global seeks to be driven by Holy Spirit-led risk.Mediocrity and status quo maintenance are the unrelenting enemies of excellence and fruitfulness. May we not bury our one talent, and when the Master returns may he say to BMA Global, ”Well done.” 

BMA Global seeks to fulfill its mission, as guided by our values, through three specific tasks: send, start, support. BMA Global comes alongside local churches to help send missionaries to those places they are called to serve. The basic root word for missions is the word “send.” We help the local church send missionaries by offering help with assessment, training, coaching, partnering with other churches, accounting services, missionary care, etc. 

The essential nature of the local church in the missionary process compels us to start more churches that become the manifestation of Christ in those communities. Christ is glorified in and through his church. BMA Global plants churches!

The supporting of the missions enterprise includes supporting both personnel and missions structures. Missionary logistics that include leadership through directors and regional coordinators, financial services, security training and briefings, and missionary care all help to make our missionaries’ lives a little easier and potentially more fruitful on the field. Missionary care seeks to strengthen the lives of our missionaries in all facets of life: spiritually, emotionally, and physically. As it pertains to the structure of missions, BMA Global is able to do more with less, many times with very low overhead and a dedicated, high-capacity team. Eighty-five cents out of every dollar given to BMA Global goes directly to a missionary. A big portion of the other 15 cents pays for the support structures for missionaries. We are committed to the highest possible level of excellence while maintaining our focus on the mission field. BMA Global has a rich history that is attributed to God’s favor and the faithfulness of many churches, missionaries, and leaders. As we give undying thanks for the past, let’s look with unlimited expectation for the future! God’s glory to the nations through church multiplication!