So, here is the obvious question: Do you think or fret about the future? What about the future of our associated work? Do you think it's possible to see into the future?

In some cases, I believe that seeing into the future can be possible. In fact, I believe I have.

And, I'm glad to tell you, the future looks bright.

Would you like to see the future ... of the BMA?  Join me for BootCamp 2008 at Daniel Springs Baptist Camp. You'll meet 100 of the brightest, most dedicated students in America. They are the future of our mission work in the BMA. These, and the 400 plus students who have gone on short-term mission trips through TeamVSM over the past four years, have a stake in our future. They have already made a huge investment of money, energy, time, and heart.

In the summer of 2008 BMA Missions will be sending students to countries all over the world to minister the Gospel. BMA missionaries are requesting Volunteer Student Mission (VSM) teams to help them on their field in unprecedented number. The missions training that these students receive in preparation for their trips are making them increasingly effective on the mission field. And the hands-on experience of seeing missions up-close and becoming personally involved in the ministry given to our missionaries is changing the lives of our kids.

They never see missions, or themselves, the same way again.

2008 Volunteer Student Missions

This summer, Team VSM students will be traveling to:  Colorado ... Florida ... Chicago ... Belorussia ... Cambodia ... Czech Republic ... China ... Ghana ... Honduras ... Philippines ... Puerto Rico ... Romania ... Russia ... Thailand.

Each team, with a  specific purpose and goal in mind, will serve at the direction of the missionary on the field. This "field-driven" approach to short-term missions is essential to long-term effectiveness. In short, we may be sending our students on a short-term mission, but we want to do our best to ensure that trip's long-term effectiveness.

Becoming a member of TeamVSM involves a one-year commitment for both team members and their leaders. The journey usually begins at SOAR, the annual Student Conference sponsored by the Conference Ministry of DiscipleGuide Church Resources. SOAR spends a significant part of this week-long conference challenging students to follow Christ's Great Commission both locally and globally. BMA Missions and Lifeword are featured prominently in sessions and are given room to set up displays. Missions personnel are on-hand to meet students and talk to them about world missions prospects. Kids are then given the opportunity to come to a midnight meeting to hear about the opportunities offered for spending their summer on the mission field.

After the students and adult sponsors make the decision to go on a TeamVSM trip, training and fund-raising begin in earnest. Team leaders are brought to Little Rock to BMAA Missions headquarters for training and instruction on how to lead a VSM team. Contact is made with missionaries on the field to determine dates, budgets, and missions. Students begin the job of raising the funds they need to make the trip. They are challenged by their Tear Leaders to study their Bibles, learn about the specific mission field where they will be working, and to pray for the people that they are going to visit. Finally, everyone gathers for a week of extensive training about team mission and purpose, along with a fun week of team-building at BootCamp. (This year's BootCamp is scheduled for June 10-13 at Daniel Springs Baptist Camp in Gary, Texas.) Finally, it's off to the mission field.

Bright Future

So why do I believe that the future is bright? Again, come with me to Daniel Springs. Watch as our students fall on their knees and plead with God to make Himself known to the nations of the world. Listen as they share how God has revealed to them His will to surrender their lives to missions. Join them as they work out in the 100 degree heat, learn to live without modern conveniences, and study to share the Gospel in a more effective way. You can hear it in their voices as they pray. You can see it in the joy that comes from learning to invest your life in the Kingdome of God. You feel it in the earnest way that they worship out under an open-air tent. You can see it in the way that they give their lives to the Father.

It's the future ... our BMA's future. I've seen it!

And the future looks very bright indeed!