Summer 2026 President’s View

Advance Magazine
Summer 2026

President’s View

Full-Circle Surrender

Have your ever listened to a sermon and become so fixated on what was said moments ago that you are no longer paying attention to what is being said in the present? As a senior in high school, I found myself doing that while Harold Dark, veteran BMM missionary to Africa, preached at my church. He had said, “You will never be happy unless you are totally surrendered to the will of God!”

I couldn’t get that sentence out of my mind because I was grappling with where the Lord wanted me to go to college. I wanted my will rather than the Lord’s will. Thankfully, that night I told the Lord that I would surrender to His will for my college choice. Of course, I had no idea that this decision would lead me to the pastorate and eventually full circle to serving with BMM.

“Surrender to the Lord’s will is essential to the full circle of missions.”

From a human perspective, I would not be serving with BMM today had it not been for that crucial point of surrender.

Surrender to the Lord’s will is essential to the full circle of missions.

It takes surrender to:

BE FAITHFUL on the arduous journey of raising support.
LEARN a new language and LOVE an unfamiliar culture.
SERVE FAITHFULLY term after term.
CHANGE GEARS from field ministry to furlough ministry.
TRAIN those who will replace you.
And it takes surrender to FINISH WELL.

The full circle of ministry is amazing, and you never know where it will take you. Surrender took me from being a teen who wanted his life to count for Christ to shepherding this amazing family we call Baptist Mid-Missions. What an amazing full circle!