IM’s story begins in 1935, right after the forming of the National Association of Free Will Baptists. Miss Laura Belle Barnard departed to minister to the “untouchables” of India. Missions was a key part of our DNA from the very beginning.
The Opening Chapters
In 1941, Tom and Mabel Willey began their work in Cuba, where they started churches and a Bible institute to train leaders. In 1956, Lonnie and Anita Sparks entered the Ivory Coast, planting churches and translating the Bible. Brazil welcomed Dave Franks Sr. in 1958. He also planted churches and trained leaders. Although his father ministered briefly in Panama, Tom Willey Jr. and Emma Ruth officially began their work there in 1962.
These pioneering missionaries emphasized the evangelization of communities, discipleship of new believers, planting of churches, and establishment of Bible institutes to train leaders. These emphases produced a crop of trained, capable leaders from seeds sown nine decades ago. These new leaders not only embraced reaching their communities, but they also grasped and took to heart the missionary mandate to go and make disciples of all nations.
The Story Develops
In these legacy countries — Brazil, Cuba, India, Ivory Coast, Panama, and Uruguay — we no longer have U.S. missionaries. The missionaries accomplished their tasks then passed the baton to strong national churches with a burden to grow the Kingdom.
The burden and passion that drove American pioneer missionaries and all who followed has been transferred to national believers. We’re reaping the benefits of that investment of time and treasure.
IM labors with the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission.
Read that again and think about what it means. For many years, we understood those words from a North American context. We worked with U.S. churches to send U.S. missionaries to make disciples of all nations. For 90-plus years, we have had the privilege to see mission works turn into churches, churches turn into associations reaching their own countries, and finally, associations sending missionaries around the world. Countries which once received missionaries now send missionaries worldwide. Let’s look at some of them.
Brazil recently sent Lude Handel and Bianca Achê to Ireland. Bianca’s parents served as missionaries in Ireland when she was young. Now, the Brazilian church has sent her to lead a youth ministry to the teens in their target town. They also work with the worship team in a local church and teach music classes.
The island country of Cuba has sent out a host of missionaries. Yosniel and Katiuska were some of the first. Initially sent to work at the Doropo Medical Center, they currently work with the 1040i NGO. Yosniel is heavily involved in the African side of the ministry. Dr. Katiuska, a licensed MD, serves as the nurse for the Christian school in Tanda.
Cubans Yosvanys and Anita work in a church revitalization effort in Malvin Norte, Uruguay. Sent to work in a church which had lost many people due to being without a pastor for several years, he and his family have worked hard to bring life back to the church in this difficult community.
Samuel Ramos and his wife Anita left Cuba for ministry in Mexico. Though the support ended for the ministry they immigrated to do, they began a church plant in Merida, Mexico, in the Yucatán Peninsula. This is the largest city in southeastern Mexico. Samuel also pastors another church located two and a half hours away in Valladolid.
Cuban pastors Mario and Jesus are planting a church in Içara, Brazil. No Free Will Baptist churches have ever been planted in this southeastern part of Brazil. Other Cuban believers serve in Paraguay, various ministries and church plants in the United States, and restricted access countries.
One of the newest and most exciting examples of legacy countries making disciples outside their borders is in the Republic of Togo. A Free Will Baptist church in France developed a burden to train pastors in Togo. Global Partners participated in training sessions, along with Pastor Samuel from the neighboring country of Ivory Coast. The sessions were fantastic, but much work still needed to be done.
As Pastor Samuel prepared to retire from the ministry at his Ivoirian church, his burden for the need in Togo increased. He and his wife Nina moved to Togo to train pastors to minister more effectively, with a sound doctrinal framework. He is organizing groups of churches who want to work with Free Will Baptists into a Free Will Baptist association. Currently, a partnership for Togo involves the French church, Global Partners, and the Ivorian church. It’s amazing how God puts all the puzzle pieces together.
We see God working through Panamanians in a powerful way. Panama sent a single lady, Ruth, to work in India. Over the last couple of years, they have sent mission teams to Cuba, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The Panamanian national association recently sent Edwin Escudero and his wife Jennifer to El Salvador. Edwin works with Bright Hill Collective, serving youth in their schools. Relationships with students and parents have led to the possibility of starting a FWB church in El Salvador.
God Continues Writing the Story
What we see today is not the changing of our mission or our mission statement; it is the maturing of it. The same Great Commission that compelled the U.S. church to send missionaries also compels our partner countries to cross boundaries, cultures, and languages with the gospel. What once was a North American endeavor has flowed through the international Body of Christ with each part doing its work.
This is a result of faithfulness over time. Seeds planted produced churches and leaders — leaders with vision and a heart to see the gospel flow into all nations. IM continues to labor with the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission — not as owners but as partners in what God is doing among the nations.
This is the story God has been writing for more than 90 years, and by His grace, it is still being written.
About the Writer: Jaimie Lancaster is the assistant director of field partnerships at IM, Inc. He works with Dr. Kenneth Eagleton to support ministry partnerships around the globe. Learn more: iminc.org.
