VBM is thrilled to welcome Madison Brown as our newest missionary. She will be serving in South Africa, where she spent her internship to complete the Training Center. Welcome Madison!!! We’re honored to have you!
Newest Bateman Baby!!
A giant congratulations to Shawn and Emily Bateman on the birth of Elena Marilyn Bateman. She was born on Friday, Nov 24th, weighing 9 lbs. Both mom and baby are doing well.
2023 Blessings
Though we have a month before the year is up, I wanted to some ways God blessed here at VBM in 2023. It’s easy to forget how good God has been, so I want to share a few of those here:
Left for the fieldin 2023: 5 Families.
Board of Directors. Whereas the PAC gives counsel, wisdom, prayer, and thoughts from pastor’s view, the BOD gives structure for the legal, business, and PR standpoint. They have helped us make wise financial and legal decisions.
New Training Program— Because of PAC help and advice, we have improved internship requirements. As it is hard for many to move here and be close by for training, an intern can now stay in their home church and train with Travis, Ty, and Jeff via zoom. We are also offering a couple “Intensive Trainings” throughout their internship with many classes over 2 days.
OGTCsinging groupduring summer. Visited 22 churches with 100% positive feedback from pastors!
ManyY4tGmeetings (challenge youth about World Evangelism)
Added Bartonfamily as missionaries.
AddedMadison Brown as missionary.
TJ Gabriel came on board as ourAcademic Dean to bring strong academic dynamic.
Anna Rodmancame on home office staff.
Lydia Elliscame on on home office staff.
Held twoWCMTin the summer.
Two very goodregional conferenceswith team unity.
Full-court pressSocial media. Chris moved from finances to media department.
VBM @ PCC
Ty and Travis traveled and challenged the students of PCC yesterday. God is opening doors, and we request your prayers as we seek to help others get to the mission field.
Abide Women’s Conference – February 17, 2024
Join us for a refreshing time together! Please email info@visionmissions.com if you are interested in being a part. RSVP by February 5th. Pay with cash at the door or bring a check made out to Vision Baptist Missions, Inc. and memoed Abide Conference.
Hope to see you there!
Struggles Are Reminders
“For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.” — Deuteronomy31:20
God gave the Promised Land to Israel, which is a beautiful picture of the victorious Christian life. But their blessings, which should be reminders of God’s goodness, caused them to settle down and forget about God. This should awaken us to be cautious.
“When” God blessed His people, giving them comfort, security, peace, and wealth, “then” they abandoned God for their own way. Though this is tremendously sad, it’s too often seen in our lives. “When” we’re healthy, with money in pockets, and food in our bellies, “then” we seem to go about our lives not consulting or considering God. None of us like trials, struggles, or difficulties, but it’s in those moments that we realize our need for God. Too frequently we beg God to free us from difficulties, but maybe we might just need those to keep us humble and in need of God. Instead of praying for a problem-free life, maybe we should ask God to do whatever He desires to keep us close to Him. Don’t allow ease to cause you to avoid looking and loving God. Let your struggles be reminders to remember God.
Newest Interns, Future Missionaries – Tim & Jessica Johnson
My name is Tim Johnson, and I am from Seymour, Tennessee. My wife, Jessica, and I have been married for 10 years, and we have 3 sons: Levi 7, Britton 5, and Theo, who is almost 2.
I thank the Lord that I was able to grow up with a godly mother that made sure we were faithful to church. At the age of 11, I made the best decision of my life when I called upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Once I got into high school, I started drifting away from the Lord, and from the ages of 15-21 I was out of church and completely out of God’s will. But, God is merciful, full of grace, and longsuffering, and at the age of 21 I repented of my sin and rededicated my life back to the Lord.
As a young man in his early 20s trying to figure out what to do with his life, I had a great burden for young people. I had a desire to be an influence in the lives of youth that desperately needed a positive male role model. So, in 2009, I began studying to become an elementary school teacher. I graduated from Tennessee Tech University in 2013 and immediately became a 4th grade teacher at CGIS in Maryville, TN, where I worked for 8 years.
During the season of life when I was studying to become a teacher, I was also maturing in the Lord. My early 20s was the first time in my life where my relationship with God really began to develop. I was able to start helping with the youth at my home church in a limited role, even teaching Sunday school classes from time to time. Eventually, the need arose for youth workers, so my wife and I, along with a few other families, took over the youth department as well as the van ministry. We served there for around 5 years and were able to see God bless in mighty ways.
We became unsettled at our home church, so we began praying to God asking Him if there was another place He would have us to serve. Soon after praying this prayer, God opened the door for me to become the youth pastor at Southside Baptist Church in 2019, and we are still here to this day. In our time here, we have been blessed to see God save many souls and change many lives.
Over the summer of 2023, I led a group from our church on a mission trip to South Africa, and it was there that the Lord began dealing with my heart about surrendering to missions. After weeks of prayer, we surrendered to serve God on the mission field in South Africa.
If you would have asked me 5, 10, or 15 years ago where I would be today, preparing to leave for Africa would have never been on my list. But, as I have said yes to God over the past few years, He has directed my steps. I have many regrets in my life, but saying yes to God has never been one of them.
New Quotes On the Walls
Quotes placed in the Hudson Taylor building. Decor that reminds us of our purpose is great!
Pensacola Christian College
Ty Pepperdine will be visiting and speaking to students of PCC on Monday, November 27th. Please pray that God will use Ty and those who go with him to recruit future missionaries!
Volunteers On Campus
The Lord has blessed us with many great volunteers, and we are so grateful for their help!
OGTC Student Highlight
My name is Grant Snode. I am 18 years old.
I grew up in the United Kingdom, serving with my parents on the mission field.
I was saved at the age of four, but I didn’t really start taking my Christian faith seriously until I was about 15. I experienced doubts about my salvation, and inner turmoil about what God was calling me to do with my life.
Meanwhile, me and my family were going on furlough, starting new ministries and then, finally, we moved back to the States permanently. It was a huge blow to my pride, my identity as a missionary kid, and it sort of pushed me away from missions. Why would I want to invest my life into something that hurt me so badly?
It seemed to make sense in my head, but really I was just suppressing God’s will for my life.
After a summer of agonizing and praying over where to attend college, God spoke to my heart and I knew that missions was for me. I laid off my excuses and surrendered to full-time missions.
I am now in my first semester of the OGTC, and am loving every second of it!
Missionary Highlight
I am starting a “get to know each other” section so you can learn more about (or be reminded of) VBM missionaries serving around the world. We will be working in alphabetical order, and the next couple is Josh and Morgan Barton.
Josh’s Testimony:I was privileged to grow up in a Christian home where I heard the Gospel at a very early age. When I was 7 years old in a children’s church service God convicted me that I had never been saved. I went forward and someone showed me from the Bible how to call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. After graduating high school, I surrendered to God’s call on my life into full-time ministry at the age of 18. It was during this time I attended Veritas Baptist College while simultaneously serving in the ministry as an assistant to the Pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Seymour, TN.
I went on one of my first missions trips to India in February of 2020 where God began to open my eyes to the great need of laborers worldwide. After graduating from Bible college in 2021, the Lord opened the door to take a missions trip with a small group from my church for a month to Peru. While there, I surrendered to Gods calling on my life to be a missionary. Morgan and I grew up in church together where we met and were married in January of 2022 and began praying about our next steps.
In January of 2023, we were able to take a 6-month internship with Vision Baptist Missions spending three months in South Africa where we continued to pray about where God would have us serve in the future. While there, we were able to visit the country of Mozambique and God began to break our hearts for the great need of Bible preaching churches there. We surrendered to be missionaries to Mozambique and are currently raising support to serve the Lord there full-time.
The Lord has also blessed us with twins that were born on October 4, 2023! A boy and a girl named Liam and Lana. We are excited to follow God’s will for our lives to the country of Mozambique and covet your prayers as we finish raising our needed support!
Morgan’s Testimony: I grew up in a Christian home and I received Christ as my Savior when I was four years old. I can remember asking my mom if I could get saved and she took her Bible and showed me how I could know where I was going when I died. When I was 14 I was able to attend the Our Generation Camp and felt burdened to give my life fully to the Lord. It was there I surrendered to whatever God would have me to do and began praying about serving on the mission field. I met my husband at our church and we went on a one month internship to Peru. There we both surrendered our lives to the mission field not knowing where He would have us serve full time in the future. Soon after we got married, and we went on a three month internship to South Africa to train for mission field. This is when we visited Mozambique and knew that was where the Lord wanted us to be! We are excited to serve the Lord where He has called us to go!
Abide Women’s Conference – February 17, 2024
Join us for a refreshing time together! Please email info@visionmissions.com if you are interested in being a part. RSVP by February 5th. Pay with cash at the door or bring a check made out to Vision Baptist Missions, Inc. and memoed Abide Conference.
Hope to see you there!
From God & For God
“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” — 1 Corinthians 4:7
Your talents and abilities are not self-taught or self-improved. Certainly you should study, practice, observe, and do all within your power to grow and know more, but there must be a clear understanding that all you have and all you are is because of God’s goodness in your life. This realization should cause a dependency on God as well as remove the arrogancy from self. What God has given you should be used for God’s purpose and glory. Does the use of your time reveal your dependency upon God, or does it prove you think you’ve received what you have by your own merit? How about your money? Your attitude? Your talents or gifts? Your family? Your influence? The Bible reminds us to praise God, “For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). Remember that what you have is from God, and it should be used for God.
Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. – 3 John 6-7
Here at VBM, we are a missions organization, but we don’t often directly ask about support. It’s not really our way. However, as 2023 draws to a close and Giving Tuesday is upon us, we want to take a minute to ask you to give to help the cause of Christ move forward in our generation.
We also know there are many ways that you might be able to give a tax-deductible year-end gift. Vision Baptist Missions, Inc. is a 501C(3) non-profit, so your gifts can have a tax benefit to you, but your gifts will also help the work in a significant way.
If the Lord leads you to give to the VBM Global Fund, you can give in multiple ways. 1. You can send a check with a memo to “VBM Global Fund.” 2. You can click on the following link and give online securely.
You may ask, “What does my gift do when giving to the VBM Global Fund?” The work of reaching the world in our generation is extensive. A gift to the VBM Global Fund will train future spiritual leaders, support the work of church planting, and amplify the message of reaching the world in our generation.
If the Lord leads you to partner with us, please click the following link for the next steps.
Praise the Lord for young men and women who answer the call to take the message of Jesus Christ around the world! A new semester is in full swing, with classes on theology, missions, and much more. Please pray for these students and faculty as important steps are taken in the direction of fulltime ministry.
For those interested in missionary service, we want to suggest the Our Generation Training Center as a place of training. Through biblical teaching, practical training, personal mentoring, and an overseas internship, the OGTC can help you prepare for effective missionary service. Classes start on August 22! Enroll by August 1! Find out more here.
Lights! Camera! Action! We are excited and so thankful to the Lord to get our new media studio up and running. As we start creating and sharing content, make sure to follow our YouTube channel and other social media posts. You will be encouraged by missionary stories, interviews, and much more.
Of course, you will only know the answer to that question once you join us for one of our many mission trips, but here are a few things you can expect on a mission trip with VBM.
1. You will create an opportunity in your life to serve the Lord and serve others.
Missionaries with the VBM family work hard to ensure you will maximize your experience in the country. From eating local food to seeing famous landmarks, you will learn more about the people and culture. Primarily, you will have many chances to share the gospel with the lost, help with new churches, and minister alongside veteran missionaries.
2. You will broaden your understanding of the world and the need for the gospel to be shared.
“…behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” – John 4:35
In this Bible verse, Jesus’ disciples were worried that Jesus might be hungry. When they approached Jesus about it, He replied with the above answer. Sometimes, we become very consumed with the day-to-day worries of life. If you take the time from your schedule to join a VBM missionary on the field, you will do just as Jesus suggested to His disciples. When you see the harvest and the need for the gospel in the far reaches of the world, you will not be the same!
3. You will open up the door to make cross-cultural friendships that will last a lifetime.
Most people who participate in a VBM mission trip comment on two things. One, how the Lord used their experience to change their life, and two, how many new lifelong friends they have made. It is a powerful experience to spend even a brief time with people whose lives radically differ from ours but still find a deep connection.
4. You will give the Lord the liberty to change your life!
The Lord wants to change your heart and draw you closer to Him. However, we often do not make time to allow Him to do it. When we disrupt our busy schedules, the Lord can work in your life and show you things you never imagined!
If you are interested in the possibilities, click here.
