Ron Bragg, Africa Director

When we think of the “Dark Continent”, David Livingstone comes to mind, remembering what he contributed to the missionary cause and exploration of Africa. He said, “No great result is ever attained without patient, long, continued effort.” In March, Andy Schultz and I drove many hours to view the very spot where the heart of David Livingstone was buried. As I stood at the memorial and meditated upon this great man of faith, I was profoundly touched with the fact that all we are doing in winning Africa to Christ is a question of the “heart”. This has been the testimony of BIMI in Africa for the past 40 years and will continue to be until our Lord returns.

The question is asked in Zechariah 4:10, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” What started with a handful of men and a few thousand dollars in 1960 has grown to over 11,500 churches and donors supporting more than 1000 missionaries. The Gospel is being proclaimed in more than 90 fields of the world.

BIMI now has 54 missionary families working in fourteen different countries across Africa with the prospect of entering several new fields in the near future. The “Dark Continent” is living up to its reputation in these days of upheaval, AIDS, civil war, anarchy, and political overthrow which seem to be epidemic. In spite of all the obstacles, our missionaries are pushing on with new determination to reach those even in the most remote and difficult places.

We thank God for the longevity of many of our families across Africa. Under Dr. Dan Truax and because of his love for Africa, BIMI began to launch out into countries all across the continent. He had a tremendous burden to reach the Moslem people in the Sahara Desert region. That burden challenged me all of the sixteen years my family served in Senegal, West Africa. In 1991 when God led in broadening our ministry to all of Africa as the Director, that burden continued. Now my son Hiram has caught the vision and is preparing to return to that Moslem stronghold of Senegal, where we labored along with the Godfrey and Lindquist families for so many years. Today the Gfeller family is doing a fine job and making even more progress. In the early 1970s God called several families to work in Niger, and after more than 25 years, David Edens is still translating the Word of God into that difficult desert language. He is currently broadcasting via radio the Gospel of Jesus Christ to thousands of Moslems in the Sahara Desert. Many that live nomadic lives are hearing for the first time the truth of God’s Word and souls are being saved.

Exciting prospects are unfolding for Uganda, which right now is one of our largest fields. I met recently with government officials and they were supportive and very helpful as we talked about an orphanage and a medical facility in Soroti. The Ugandan government has given BIMI eighteen acres of land in Soroti for a church, orphanage, medical facility and, possibly, a radio station. The commandant of police, a born again man, asked that we supply a chaplain for his 11,000 man police force and their families. Nurse Mary Smith has been given a complete pediatric clinic, which will soon be shipped to Uganda. Mary will leave for the field in November of this year. Bryan Stensaas was successful in getting LIFE radio on the air in December. He is helping with the work in Soroti along with Dr. Kyle Guimon, who met with President Museveni this week. Several new missionaries have already started new churches, and the government is begging the missionaries to teach Bible in the public schools. The possibilities for Uganda are as bright as their future, which is changing daily. A new video produced by BIMI has just been released, sharing some of the things God is doing in Uganda and the potential for the future.

In South Africa, where I visited recently, we have Bob Johnson, Roger McCrum, and Joel Bain who have been in missions for more than twenty-five years and have built solid works. Doug Howard has turned his work over to a national and is burdened with a vision to reach the Jews in Johannesburg. Tom Wilmoth has done a great job in church planting his first two terms, and God has greatly blessed Jeff Porter’s first term with a church planted among the Zulus. The situation in South Africa is becoming more dangerous. Ken Jenkins purchased a vehicle in South Africa to drive back to Malawi and was held up at gun point. The vehicle along with a trunk full of parts and money was taken. Nothing was ever recovered. Jackie Powell’s visa application was denied and she had to come back to the States to reprocess her papers.

These are exciting days for BIMI in Africa, with new fields being opened and a projected goal of five new fields in the next few years as God provides laborers. Tanzania, Zambia, and Togo are the most recent new fields for BIMI.

The opportunities are great, but with great opportunities comes great opposition. The Bible says in I Corinthians 16:9, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” With one person out of every six dying of AIDS in Uganda, the missionaries’ task is a formidable one. When I think that thirty new churches were started just last year with over 10,000 professions of faith, it says to me that progress is being made. Our missionaries are working hard to win the lost. Nevertheless, Satan will not give up without a fight.

I have traveled across Africa and I marvel at what our men are accomplishing; yet, I see the hundreds of villages and towns that have yet to hear the glorious Gospel of Christ. I am reminded of Robert Moffet (1795-1883) who gave testimony about Africa. “There is a vast plain to the north, where I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.” This testimony was given, and a young man by the name of Livingstone answered the call of God and gave his life to the winning of the lost in the heart of the “Dark Continent.” We need God to strengthen our hands for the great task ahead of us, and that He will give us laborers for the fields that are white unto harvest.

BIMI started with a few visionaries and laid a solid foundation which has endured 40 years. But we can never be content as long as souls stand on the edge of eternity not knowing the Christ of glory. We must press on!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

EDWARD & CAROLE HEMBREE -  ROMANIA - ASSISTANT EUROPE DIRECTOR
BRYCE & SARAH HENDERSON -  BOLIVIA
JASON & KATHLEEN HENEISE -  MILITARY - CALIFORNIA