by Les Frazier, Far East Director

The ministry of BIMI in the Far East began in the country of Japan in the early 1960s. The first three missionary families were the Don Sisks, the David Marcums, and the Ron Whites. They settled in the Kobe-Osaka area and concentrated on evangelism and church planting. Churches in Osaka, Nishinomiya, and Kobe soon resulted from this effort. The vitality of these churches soon demanded a Bible school in which young pastors and Christian workers could be trained.

To meet this need the Kansai Independent Baptist Bible School was established in Akashi in 1968. Dr. Don Sisk, who is now the General Director of BIMI, was its first president. There have been some 140 graduates of this school who are serving the Lord either as pastors, missionaries, or Christian workers. There are now some 60 churches in Japan established by either missionaries or graduates of the Bible school. Dr. Ron White presently serves as president of the Bible school.

The churches in Japan have also had an outreach in missions. They established the Japan Independent Baptist Mission Society, which now has missionaries in Senegal, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and elsewhere. BIMI church-planting ministries anticipate opening up new regions in the ‘90s. The David Harris and the Craig Burcham families are preparing to enter the Aomori Prefecture in their church-planting efforts.

The Philippines has been another fertile mission field for the church-planting efforts of BIMI. Churches have been started from northern Luzon to the island of Mindanao. Over 227 churches have been started either as a direct effort of missionaries or graduates of the more than 18 Bible colleges and Bible institutes that have been started by BIMI missionaries. The Iloilo Baptist College started by Dr. Rick Martin has an enrollment of 500 to 600 students. Other smaller Bible institutes operate within local churches. Mel Brown has been instrumental in starting eight such institutes.

The churches also vary in size. Some are large local churches that have gatherings in the hundreds or thousands, while others are smaller congregations equally thirsty for the truths of the Word of God. BIMI has 16 couples and a single missionary assigned to the field of the Philippines. This number is still growing.

Missionaries from the Philippines have been sent out to plant churches in Haiti as well as to the Philippines. The ‘90s shine brightly with the prospects of yet greater growth. The Philippines may well be the most fertile mission field in the Far East at this time in history.

The Hawaiian Islands have been a long-neglected field in the Pacific area. Two mission families have been assigned to this area of more than one million multi-ethnic population. Both the Carl Vonnoh and the Kevin Akana families will be moving into this area by the early fall of this year. Their ministries will be in evangelism and church planting.

The Tom Allred and the Roger Workman families have two churches started in the Mariana Islands. The larger church is on the island of Saipan under the leadership of Tom Allred, while Roger Workman started a new church on the island of Tinian.

Four churches have been started in Korea. The Billy Looper family has been blessed to help establish churches in Taejon, Gwangu, and Kumi. They are presently ministering in the Seoul area.

China and Hong Kong remain challenges for missions in the latter part of the ‘90s. There are five families assigned to this area of the Far East. They are learning the language and preparing for a future time in which there will be greater freedom to preach the Gospel in that country. This opportunity could come more quickly than present conditions indicate. These families look forward to the time when the doors in China will be open to the public preaching of the Gospel.

There are other frontiers in the Far East in which BIMI has no missionaries. BIMI would rejoice to have missionaries in Mongolia and North Korea. Please pray that God will raise up missionaries for these areas as well.

However, the Lord has blessed this area of the world with some great modern-day missionaries. The mission force has grown from three families who started in Japan to its present number of 45 families and three single missionaries in all of the Far East. Yet, this must be only the beginning for an area of the world that comprises one-fourth of the earth’s population of 5.6 billion people. Please pray that God will send forth laborers into this area of His vineyard.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

MR JOHN & DOROTHY HALSEY -  INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE
WILLIAM A & ELIZABETH HAMILTON -  MILITARY - ITALY
NEAL & JERRI HAMPTON -  USA - NEVADA