By Dr. John David Smith, President

In global missions, we often celebrate the fruit—churches planted, believers baptized, lives transformed. But every harvest begins with soil, seed, and sweat. The reality is that gospel work among the nations almost always begins from scratch. Missionaries enter with empty hands and full hearts, building from the ground up in foreign soil, often with nothing but a burden from God and the power of the Spirit. The biblical mandate is clear, and the strategy must reflect both Christ’s model and the New Testament pattern: humble beginnings, patient labor, and incarnational living.

This year’s World Missions Day theme, “Send Me,” resonates deeply with the legacy of BMA Global Missions. For 75 years, BMA missionaries have left home and comfort behind, embracing the unknown for the sake of the gospel. From small villages to crowded cities, they have obeyed the call to begin where no church existed. Their sacrifices form the backdrop for this article series, rooted in the biblical call to build Christ’s Church, one life, one disciple, one gathering at a time.

The apostle Paul’s words still anchor our purpose: “No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). True mission work does not export a cultural package—it exalts Christ. Cultural anthropology reminds us that every people group already has a worldview, traditions, and patterns of behavior. Our task is not to replace their culture but to redeem it with the truth of the gospel. This means moving slowly, listening carefully, and communicating in ways that make sense within their context.

Missionaries must become students of the culture. Cultural assumptions, when unchecked, can smother rather than serve the gospel. From language learning to worldview analysis, a faithful ground-up approach requires deep contextualization and humility.

The model of Christ—the Word made flesh who dwelled among us—is the heartbeat of incarnational missions. Missionaries don’t work above or apart from the people they serve; they live among them, suffer with them, and grow alongside them. This incarnational posture—“Send Me!”—requires surrender, discomfort, and a long-term vision. 

Suffering is not incidental to mission—it is often the soil in which the gospel takes root. From the apostolic age to modern missions, we see again and again that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). Whether through political instability, disease, or rejection, missionaries often face the reality that the path to planting a church is paved with personal sacrifice.

And yet, there is joy in the struggle. As Jesus taught, the kernel of wheat must fall and die to produce a harvest (John 12:24). Each difficulty faced is a chance to join Christ in His suffering and to trust in God’s redemptive power to bring fruit.

The end goal of ground-up missions is not simply evangelism—it is the birth of a local, mature, and multiplying church. As the BMA’s “Mature Church Model” outlines, these churches are marked by gospel clarity, spiritual vitality, indigenous leadership, and contextualized worship. We are not just spreading beliefs; we are establishing communities of believers who live out the gospel in their own heart language and cultural forms.

Looking Ahead

This series will highlight stories and strategies from missionaries who are planting gospel seeds where there was once no witness. Their lives testify that the Spirit still works in new soil, that the Church still grows from nothing, and that the gospel still transforms. May we be inspired to say with Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me.”