What God is doing in the Suwannee Missionary Baptist Association
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (Philippians 1. 18)
In 2017, when I began serving as Associational Missions Strategist for the Suwannee Missionary Baptist Association, I would never have imagined all that God intended to do through a network of churches willing to join Him on mission. Nor did I anticipate the personal fulfillment that I would discover as I served in this capacity. Like any ministry role, there have been joys and sorrows, but without reservation, I can say that whoever the Lord calls to be the next AMS (servant – leader) of the Suwannee Missionary Baptist Association will have an extraordinary opportunity to experience God working in and through some amazing people in some wonderful ways.
The heart of the SMBA leadership is that their next AMS will sense a clear calling to this role, and that he will lead them forward in mission partnerships, seasoning and blessing the community as one body, and glorifying God together. When I began to sense that my assignment here was coming to completion, I realize that the greatest treasure that I will pass on to my successor is a people who love God, love each other, and love their neighbors. They are the greatest and most valued treasure of the SMBA.
Having said that, I am fully convinced that the Lord is at work in this transition, and I am fully committed to contributing to the ministry and missional success of the next SMBA Missions Strategist. I am praying for our new servant – leader with thanksgiving and anticipation as we continue this journey together.
The SMBA exists to assist and serve our churches to make reproducing disciples, strengthen pastors and churches in ministry and on mission, and serve as a catalyst for new ministry and mission endeavors. We seek to fulfill this responsibility through mission partnerships, mission and ministry training for existing and emerging leaders, and by facilitating joint endeavors in local gospel – driven ministries.
We have organized our function into four Gospel Initiatives; Mission Partnerships, Serving Schools, Healthy Churches, and Gospel Oneness. Frequently, our work encompasses multiple Gospel Initiatives simultaneously. For example, we invest in mission partnerships, gospel oneness, and healthy churches when we coordinate Reach Idaho partnerships. This defined structure has helped us to stay focused in what we understand the Lord has called us to invest ourselves in as we seek what is best for the kingdom of God together. The following is a brief description of each initiative.
Mission Partnerships
Reach Idaho is our flagship partnership that became a movement following a vision – tour in Southeastern Idaho in 2024. A six-member Reach Idaho Leadership Team currently provides direction for this partnership. In 2026, seven teams made up of ninety mission volunteers from three associations served alongside Idaho churches and church planters to share Jesus in a region of our country that is less than one percent evangelical Christian. These SMBA – led mission adventures are now developing into church – to – church partnerships that include sending and sharing disciples through weeklong mission adventures, eight-month apprenticeships, three month to one year strengthening churches opportunities, and an annual mission’s engagement weekend in the SMBA highlighting and promoting Reach Idaho and other locally led ministry and mission opportunities.
Mobile Dental Mission is an annual community ministry partnership between the Florida free dental ministry grounded in seasoning and blessing our community as a platform for sharing Jesus and engaging in gospel conversations. Dental professionals and lay volunteers work together to provide free dental care to up to one hundred people each year. This weeklong mission is hosted by a local church and staffed by volunteers from ten to fifteen congregations. Through this ministry, we typically see four to six people accept Christ as Savior and Lord.
Student Summer Mission Internships are summer long pathways for high school and college students to explore their mission’s calling through firsthand experience serving churches as a team assisting with sports evangelism camps, VBS, and Reach Idaho mission adventures. The AMS supervises this six-to-ten-member team. We utilize the Callie Jordan Memorial Student Missions 5K to raise funds for stipends. The student missionaries also recruit prayer and financial partners to support their work and cover travel costs during the summer. In 2026, ten high school students from four SMBA churches comprise our team. This experience has directly impacted former student missionaries to actively pursue a vocational mission calling and reinforces the pursuit of a missional lifestyle for each participant. Supervision includes developing a mission calendar, facilitating group training in the spring, and participating with students during mission adventures.
SMBA Mission Center is a dream fostered out of the 2017 SMBA Vision Team. In addition to serving schools, the concept of an associational facility that could be used to support existing and emerging ministries began to take shape when we purchased land around the SMBA office. This multipurpose building will be used to support existing ministries such as Operation Christmas Child, Hurricane Disaster Relief, and Serving Schools. It will also be available to SMBA churches for events and to develop new ministries. We are currently collaborating with an architect to finalize a concept plan for Phase One of property development with the goal of breaking ground in 2026.
Serving Schools began out of a 2017 vision team that identified this as one of our top priorities as a network of Great Commission churches. This priority led us to purchase fourteen acres surrounding the SMBA office for future use to develop ministries that reached families by serving schools through after school services, summer day camps, and other connection points that are available to our churches because the SMBA property is located adjacent to three public elementary schools, Suwannee Middle School, and Suwannee High School. Currently, Antioch and Mt Pisgah Baptist churches are conducting a weekly after school ministry at the SMBA office. Our vision includes offering gospel-driven experiential learning field trips to public and private schools and home school groups. We are on track to launch this track of Serving Schools in the spring of 2026.
Healthy Churches includes day to day ministry to strengthen pastors and churches through ongoing relationships and a joint endeavor between the Middle Florida Baptist and Suwannee Missionary Baptist Associations we call Rural Leadership Pipeline. The Pipeline eighteen-month training strategy was launched in January 2026 for existing and emerging ministry and mission leaders. This leadership pathway currently includes ten to twelve participants that meet weekly at FBC – Lee. Local leaders are facilitating peer-group learning that focuses on twelve leadership essentials. These essentials include exploring your calling, marriage and family, spiritual disciplines and discipleship, stewardship, worship, and preparing to preach. One exciting outcome we did not anticipate is how quickly this class has become a fellowship.
Gospel Oneness began out of an awareness that the SMBA was in a unique position to address the issue of gospel racial reconciliation in 2024. During this time we partnered with African American Baptist Church who hosted the 2023 Mobile Dental Mission and our SMBA Annual Family Gathering. These events have strengthened our relationship with the faith family outside the SMBA network. They also taught us that lasting partnerships are grown through a mutual desire, consistent effort, and oneness of spirit. We have made progress in this area but have much to do. Gospel Oneness has recently broadened in scope through an understanding that Gospel Racial Reconciliation is about understanding, embracing, and expressing oneness in Christ through shared ministry and missional values. This shared experience must be built on enduring relationships between leaders and churches who have developed a kingdom – family mindset and share core doctrinal values.