Celebrating 75 Years (1938-2013)

Home Missions Heritage Trip 2013

by David Crowe

In 2013, the Home Missions Department will celebrate 75 years of planting churches and ministering to Free Will Baptist churches in North America. When the department was established in 1938 by the National Association of Free Will Baptists, little did they realize how many churches would be planted, how many souls would be saved, and how many lives would be changed forever!

In those early days, the denomination understood the biblical mandate to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. As Free Will Baptists, we believe God has given everyone freedom of will either to accept or reject His offer of salvation by grace through faith. This very belief dictates that we must be mission-minded. How can they be saved if they do not hear? How can they hear if no one preaches the Word, and how will they go if no one sends them?

Our denominational leaders also understood that in order to send missionaries around the globe, we needed a strong base. The Home Missions Department was established to plant churches and help strengthen established churches across North America, including the 50 United States, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands).

Over the past 75 years the department has been guided by godly men and women and supported by hundreds of FWB churches. Hundreds of churches have been planted and tens of thousands have been saved as a result of the ministries and outreach of Home Missions. Only in eternity will we completely realize and understand the impact Home Missions has had on our denominations and on the Kingdom of God.

To honor and to celebrate this great milestone, we are planning a 75th Anniversary Heritage Trip for the fall of 2013. Home Missions has taken hundreds of pastors and their wives on Heritage Trips across North America. On this trip, we will visit the northern areas where Free Will Baptists had their beginnings in this country. We will consider the European aspects of our history and how it affected the early days on this continent.

This will be the most comprehensive and detailed Heritage Trip to date. We hope to have more than 50 couples go with us. If you’ve been with us before, we hope you will go again. We will add visits to some exciting new areas.

Watch for more detailed information about this trip and the itinerary. If you have questions regarding the trip or how to qualify to join us, please call the Home Missions Department. We will be glad to tell you everything we know about the trip. We hope you will join us on this enjoyable, educational, and inspiring Heritage Trip.

About the Writer: David Crowe is director of development for Free Will Baptist Home Missions. Learn more at www.homemissions.net.