BOLD MISSION BUILDERS (BMB)
Under the auspices of the Stone Mountain Baptist Association (SMBA), Bold Mission Builders (BMB) is a group of Christ centered volunteers who give their time and talent to assisting churches, missions and Christian community outreach programs with renovation or new construction needs. The Bold Mission Builders abilities range from one room renovations to 18,000 square foot new construction and has constructed facilities in both the state of Georgia ss well as other states, such as Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
The Bold Mission Builders ministry began in 1990 under the leadership of three men. Prior to that time, various churches within the SMBA had individual building teams operating independently. David Travis, then Director of Missions for SBMA, Don Wood, Team Leader of Zion Baptist Church in Covington and Walt Knight, Team Leader of Conyers First Baptist Church brought these individual teams together to better synergize each team’s talents and skills into one associational ministry. A friend remarked that their idea was “a bold undertaking”….and the BOLD MISSION BUILDERS were born!
Many congregations that have been helped now have teams involved with the Bold Mission Builders while others have launched their own building ministry, thus expanding God’s Kingdom even further. BMB teams include individuals and groups from numerous churches within the SMBA as well as other areas around the state. There are also a few individuals from other denominations too. Additionally, BMB partners with the following groups:
GEORGIA BAPTIST BUILDERS, Stuart Lang
CARPENTERS FOR CHRIST, Attala AL, Dave Tidwell
SHAMGAR MINISTRIES, Rusty and Denise Stewart
WORLD GOSPEL MISSIONS, Ray and Jane Singleton
OXFORD NAIL BENDERS, Oxford AL, Tom Hodges
VOLUNTEER CHRISTIAN BUILDERS, Eudaly Chapter, Grapevine TX
SOUTHHAVEN BAPTIST CHURCH BUILDERS, Springfield MO, Shannon Lee
Bold Mission Builders welcomes every volunteer offer, from skilled contractors to service oriented volunteers. Bold Mission Builders has a place for you!!
Rev. Joel and Bernice Brown
The coordinator of the Bold Mission Builders is Joel M. Brown. Joel has been a Team Leader since the early 1990’s. He later became the Team Leader for two separate teams. In 2003 he accepted the call to serve as overall Coordinator.
He is assisted by his wife, Bernice. In 2004, Joel and Bernice were appointed by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention as Mission Service Corps missionaries serving through the Stone Mountain Baptist Association under the leadership of Larry Cheek, Director of Missions.
Their primary responsibilities include coordination of the Bold Mission Builders projects and Adult Volunteer Mobilization. They are available to speak in churches during worship services, to mission organizations, Sunday School classes, youth or children’s groups and to participate in Mission Fairs and Mission Conferences. Joel is an ordained minister and is available to preach on missions and mission involvement.
Rick Lunsford
Rick serves as a Bold Mission Builders Associate Coordinator and Team Leader. Rick served in the U.S. Army for 20 years before returning to his hometown of Wrens, Georgia. He is a a member of Zion Baptist Church in Covington, GA.
Pastor Rusty and Denise Stewart
Rusty and Denise serve as Associate Coordinators and Team Leaders as well as shepherding SHAMGAR Ministries in Cochran, Georgia. Pastor Rusty was the Senior Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Cochran, Georgia in 2005 when BMB built a new sanctuary for the rapidly growing congregation of BBC. Since that time, Rusty and Denise have gone on to found Shamgar Ministries. In addition to its community and jail ministries, Shamgar has a thriving construction ministry that partners with BMB on many projects, helping to expand God’s work to many places in the southeast. As if that wasn’t a large enough calling, Rusty recently accepted the call to serve as Senior Pastor of Poplar Springs North Baptist Church in Dublin, Georgia.
STONE MOUNTAIN BAPTIST ASSOCIATION
The Stone Mountain Baptist Association (SMBA) is one of the 93 regional associations in Georgia. SMBA was originally formed in 1839 at the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Newton County with 588 members in 16 churches. In 1847 the Stone Mountain Baptist Association joined the Georgia Baptist Convention.
The Stone Mountain Baptist Association primarily serves Southeast DeKalb County, Rockdale County and Newton County with representation in Henry and Walton Counties as well. Currently the Association has a membership of 98 churches and missions worshiping in 11 languages, with a total membership of over 25,000. SMBA has a paid and volunteer staff of 11 working in various aspects of mission ministries providing “hands on help” to churches.
Dr. Larry Cheek
Larry Cheek for the past 15 years has served as the Associational Missionary of the Stone Mountain Baptist Association in Conyers, Georgia where he serves ninety churches worshiping in nineteen languages and cultural groups in East Metro Atlanta. Prior to this position he held a dual role as Interim Minister of Education and later Interim Pastor at Rockdale Baptist Church as well as Associate Missionary in the Stone Mountain Baptist Association.
Larry’s entire ministry has been among Stone Mountain Baptists, having served as Minister of Youth at Midway Baptist in Covington, Pastor of Macedonia Baptist in Oxford, and Associate Pastor of Eastwood Baptist Church in Conyers. In addition he has served a number of churches as Interim Pastor in Macedonia, Hope, North Rockdale, Highland Park, and Calvary. He previously served in the Stone Mountain Baptist Association as a Church Starter Strategist from 1986 – 1990 under appointment of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Larry holds degrees from Mercer University in Atlanta (BA, 1978), the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (MDV, 1981), and Luther Rice University (DMin, 2006). Larry and his wife Cathy have been married for 33 years and reside in Oxford, GA.
The Southern Baptist Convention is represented at the state level by the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC). As one of the SBC’s 42 state conventions, the GBC represents and carries forward the work of the SBC within the state of Georgia. GBC comprises 93 regional associations that cover the entire state of Georgia.
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was organized in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia. Since that time it has grown to over 16 million members who worship in more than 45,000 churches in the United States. Southern Baptists sponsor about 5,000 missionaries serving the United States and its territories, Canada, and the Caribbean, as well as sponsoring more than 5,000 foreign missionaries in 153 nations of the world. Working through 1,175 local associations and 42 state conventions, Southern Baptists share a common bond of basic Biblical beliefs and a commitment to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world.