BCM’s Birthplace Celebrates Diamond Jubilee
BCM Philippines has reason to claim the honor of being the birthplace of BCM International. Miss Bessie Traber was serving as a missionary in the Philippines when she first developed her innovative children’s outreach focused on using neighborhood Bible Clubs to reach children with the gospel of Jesus Christ and ground them firmly in God’s Word. It was upon her involuntary return for health reasons to her native USA city of Philadelphia that God called Bessie Traber to use her Philippines ministry experience in founding similar Bible Clubs in North America. Thus began the ministry of the Bible Club Movement, now BCM International.
Decades later, Bessie Traber’s vision for children’s ministry returned to the Philippines with the founding of the first Bible Clubs in Manila, a ministry that in time expanded to church planting and other outreaches. Today the BCM-associated Bible Centered Fellowship, Inc. (BCFI), encompasses more than 100 churches with as many full-time BCM Philippines missionary personnel along with hundreds more volunteer lay-leaders and three training centers. More than 60 BCFI churches and BCM Camp Española are located among tribal groups in the Philippines’ largest island of Mindanao.
So it was with great pleasure that a team of BCM International leadership flew into the birthplace of the Bible Club Movement to join BCM Philippines for their celebration of BCM’s Diamond Jubilee from April 16-18, 2011. Participating in the team were keynote speaker and pastor of Union Grove Baptist Church in North Carolina, Dr. Ron Chaney; Union Grove church leader Mr. Henry Moore; BCM President Dr. Marty Windle; VP for International Ministries Dr. Vararuchi Dalavai along with his wife Veronica; and VP of Personnel Joe Dukes.
Part of the BCM motorcade through Manila
The celebration began in the Philippine capital of Manila. “Task Towards the Target” was the theme chosen by BCM Philippines, a reminder that even while honoring the past, the target of fulfilling the Great Commission by taking the gospel to all nations still remains a challenge for the future. Festivities opened Saturday afternoon, April 16th, with a police-escorted motorcade through residential and business areas to BCFI’s South Greenheights Church. Parade vehicles were covered with colorful balloons and banners announcing BCM’s 75th anniversary, and children among the spectators grabbed precariously to capture the occasional balloon for themselves.
About 500 gathered for that evening’s inaugural celebration at South Greenheights Church. A youth music group, a children’s choir, and an adult choral group contributed to an evening of vibrant worship. A highlight was the Kahayag Cultural Ministry team, who flawlessly performed a traditional ethnic dance that culminated with holding high candle glasses whose lit flames formed the number “75” in honor of BCM’s Diamond Jubilee.
The main anniversary celebration on Sunday, April 17th, drew over 1000 in attendance from BCM churches around Manila. Children participated in a parade of flags and national costumes representing each country throughout the world where BCM undertakes ministry. The children then formed a choir to sing “The Mission” by Steve Green, a deeply moving song about the call and responsibility of the Church to take the Great Commission around the world.
Camp Española
After the Manila celebrations, the visiting BCM team flew to General Santos City on the island of Mindanao. First on the schedule was a visit to Camp Española, a beautifully secluded location amid miles and miles of pineapple fields where BCM Mindanao carries out a camp and conference ministry for area tribal churches.
More than 500 were in attendance for the closing celebration of BCM’s 75th anniversary in the Philippines, held at the Family Country Homes Convention Center in General Santos City. It was very encouraging to see so many tables filled with delegations of young people from various BCM church locations around the island of Mindanao. The Kahayag Cultural Ministry team presented another demonstration of Christian ethnic dance. Also on the program were a children’s presentation on the importance of the Bible and a colorfully dressed adult choir singing on the theme of commitment to the task of serving Jesus Christ.
During their time in the Philippines, the visiting BCM leadership team was able to visit 15 churches planted by BCM missionaries in locations around Manila and General Santos City. One special blessing was to hear a young pastor of a recent church plant with just 18 members share how they were already branching out to another district without an established gospel witness to plant a church there.
Dr. Ron Chaney
Three members of the visiting BCM team shared in Bible teaching at each location. Keynote speaker Dr. Ron Chaney preached on the topic of “mystery” in Scriptures: the mystery of faith, mystery of iniquity, mystery of godliness, and how they intermingle in believers’ lives and throughout history. Dr. Chaney also gave two seminars to groups of Philippine church lay leaders on the topic of “the whole Word of God to the whole person for the whole of life”.
Dr. Vararuchi Dalavai challenged listeners to continue the task towards the target of completing the Great Commission. Dr. Marty Windle spoke of BCM’s heritage and roots in the Philippines, reminding that BCM must not rest on this great legacy, but carry that blessing and faithful service forward into the future.
One exciting step forward already in the planning is a BCFI church plant in the same community where Miss Bessie Traber ministered to children in the 1930s, today still without an established church of its own. And with that project, Bessie Traber’s heart for the Philippines and vision of reaching children and developing churches worldwide will indeed have come full circle.