Kinsleigh was born at 9:58 on August 20th – 8 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing well, thank the Lord.

Classes have begun!!

Very grateful for a great beginning, and the good spirit of students and teachers. 

We held our first chapel service of the semester. Ty Pepperdine makes sure the students lead singing, preach 5-minute messages, and report on the country of the week. Different pastors and missionaries preach to the students.

There are several Y4TG lined up within the next couple of months. We would love to have you join us for one in your area! Here is a link if you would like to register.

• September 14 – Calhoun, GA
• September 21 – NY City, NY
• September 28 – Knoxville, TN
• October 12 – Saint Cloud, FL
• October 26 – Dalton, GA

It was great to get back into the swing of Friday missions class. We were extremely blessed to have John Walz teach our first missions class of the new semester. Great info!

​​This section is so you can learn more about (or be reminded of) VBM missionaries serving around the world. We will be working in alphabetical order, and the next missionary is M & N, missionaries in a creative access country.

M:

I was born into a Christian family and had the opportunity to grow up in a home that served God faithfully. In the fourth grade, I made a

profession of faith. At the age of sixteen, I surrendered to be a missionary, but I struggled with assurance of my salvation. At 17, I repented toward God and completely put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, gaining assurance of my salvation. Shortly after, the desire for missions was still there, and I assuredly gathered that the Lord had called me to be a missionary. At 20, through a time of prayer, a particular country was impressed upon my heart and mind, and I surrendered to go there as a missionary, believing it was the Lord’s will for my life.

N:

I was raised in a Christian home and have attended church all my life. While I made a profession of faith and even had a desire to serve the Lord fully with my life from a young age, I struggled throughout my childhood and teen years with doubting my salvation. It wasn’t until after I began attending Bible college and married my husband, who was already a committed missionary, that I realized that I had never truly put my faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. By God’s grace, at the age of twenty, through the Holy Spirit’s working in my life, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and afterward willingly dedicated my life to be a missionary and follow my husband wherever the Lord leads.

Very grateful Shawn and Emily Bateman made time to record a podcast this week. Whenever you’re in town, we would love to record with you as well!

We were able to do several podcasts with John Walz when he came to teach Missions Class on Friday. He taught a great one on Burnout.

We are preparing for the future by recording classes. Both Travis and Ty have spent extra time recording, and I am grateful for their sacrifice. Our goal is that God will allow our reach to go further than just our physical campus.

Travis & Ty, along with several OGTC students, were able to attend a youth event at Fairview Baptist Church in Athens, TN to represent and recruit. Scott Pauley was the main speaker. Thank you to all those that helped represent VBM & OGTC. 

Graham, Olivia, and Lyla Jane are back on the field in Nigeria! They have packed up their house in Abuja and moved to their new city, Jos.

We held a meal and orientation to start our new semester. We are grateful for the pastors, faculty, and students who were able to attend. We ate, prayed, spoke to pastors and students separately, and discussed the days ahead. We are looking forward to a great semester!

We had a wonderful Y4tG (Youth for the Gospel) on Saturday with over 100 in attendance!!!!

Special thanks to Dr. Jim and Mrs. Sandy for gathering 6 churches for this great event. And thank you to those that came to sing, preach, and help.

There are several Y4TG lined up within the next couple of months. We would love to have you join us for one in your area! Here is a link if you would like to register.

• September 14 – Calhoun, GA
• September 21 – NY City, NY
• September 28 – Knoxville, TN
• October 12 – Saint Cloud, FL
• October 26 – Dalton, GA

Starting up the semester with new LED lights in the gym. Looks so nice!!

We now have a coffee bar! Chris Fies was the master builder and did a great job. Emilee Coffey will be our amazing barista!

This section is so you can learn more about (or be reminded of) VBM missionaries serving around the world. We will be working in alphabetical order, and the next missionary is John & Alisha Walz.

John:

The Lord blessed me with the privilege of growing up in a good Christian home. I remember walking into the living room under conviction about my sin and asking my dad how I could be saved. He shared the Scriptures with me and I prayed and asked the Lord Jesus to save me.

As many who are young that make professions of faith have doubts of their salvation do, I too, struggled with insecurity. But with each season of doubt, I was led back to the promises of God’s written Word and simply trust Christ to not only be the Author but also the Finisher of my faith.

Alisha:

My family tragedy with my brother’s accidental death led our parents to seek the Lord through the local missionary who came out to the Navajo reservations. While in his church, my family gave their heart to Christ and as a little girl, I prayed to received Christ as my Savior.

Today, it is because of the example of the missionary family that came to the Navajo reservations that God used to lead us to a life of ministry and bearing the gospel to people in Taiwan and China that need to hear it.

Praise the Lord for two baptized in NY City where Kanon & Nancy Bloom are serving!

Julie has been a blessing to us since returning from her internship. She has served as OGTC secretary, along with other areas, but will now be heading back to her home church in OH as she prays for God’s leading. We are thankful for her time with us!

The Training Center’s new year starts on August 20th! Please pray that the Lord will use these students who will be joining us this year in a great way. Also, pray that the Lord will empower the faculty and staff to train the young people to be prepared for all the Lord has for them.

We have several Y4tG (Youth for the Gospel) events coming up! THIS Saturday we will hold one in Central, SC. We’d love to see you there. Register to go at the following link!

Youth for the Gospel

There are several events lined up within the next couple of months. I’m putting them below so you can see them – all of the events are Saturdays: 

• September 14 – Calhoun, GA
• September 21 – NY City, NY
• September 28 – Knoxville, TN
• October 12 – Saint Cloud, FL
• October 26 – Dalton, GA

We are thrilled to have John Walz visiting and teaching our first missions class of the new semester. If you’re in town, plan to join us on Friday, August 23rd @ 9am!

What a joy to have the awesome Quinn family visit and tour the campus. 

Has ministry work ever seemed like a mind game? Sometimes, you know exactly how to think, and other times, Satan looks to attack your mind and spirit. In our first episode, Shawn Bateman and Jeff Bush discuss the firsthand experience of how the Lord helps with the battle for the mind and attitude.

Join us this season for great new content that we have been working on this summer. We will hear from several new guests and new featured episodes about various topics.

If you want to subscribe, you can visit our YouTube channel or find Mission Post on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or RSS.com!

​This section is so you can learn more about (or be reminded of) VBM missionaries serving around the world. We will be working in alphabetical order, and the next missionary is Brady & Sarah.

Brady

I had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home in Morgantown, Indiana. When I was eight years old, I realized I was not saved and needed Christ. After church on Sunday, I went and talked with my dad. He showed me how Christ died for my sins and rose again the third day and  if I would trust in Him, I would be saved. I put my faith and trust in Christ that same day. I was actively involved in my church as a teenager. When I was thirteen, I went to camp and God spoke to my heart about surrendering to missions. I surrendered to missions that week. I graduated from a Christian school in 2006 and sat out a year, saving money for college. During that year, I helped out as much as I could in my local church with the children and teen ministries. In 2007, I began to attend Crown College of the Bible in Powell, TN. The spring semester of my sophomore year, I had the privilege of spending the semester at Crown College’s British Division. God greatly used that time to teach me and grow me in my Christian life and to show me a direct path. I realized I still wanted to do missions but knew I was going to need some hands-on experience after college. I graduated from Crown College in 2011. In July of 2011, I moved to Liberty Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, AR to be their youth pastor. I was at the church for a little over two years. While there, I started the youth group and saw God grow the youth group and the young people. I was able to disciple many of the young people in the youth group and saw several of them trust Christ as their Savior. In November of 2013, I felt God leading me to move to Wytheville, VA to be closer to my then girlfriend, who is now my wife, and help out in the church. We were married in February of 2014. Shortly after this, God began to stir my heart that it was nearing time to begin missions work. I was ready to jump on the mission field, but after getting advice from my pastor, I began seeking wisdom from other missionaries. I was invited down to Vision Baptist Missions Impact Weekend. While there, God worked in my heart that I needed more training before I started deputation. In June of 2015, my wife and I moved down to Alpharetta, GA to be a part of Vision Baptist Church and the Our Generation Training Center. While at Vision Baptist Church, we have been teaching the children’s Sunday school class. We also had the privilege of starting ESL (English) classes at the church. God used this in our lives to direct us to a country. While teaching the classes, we had a family attend the class. As I began to teach and share the gospel with the husband, he began to tell me more and more about country. My heart began to break for the need of the country and the need of my friend to be saved. I continue to pray that God will save him and his family. In 2019 we arrived on the field and begin to work on learning the language. In 2021, after overcoming several different hurdles, we were able to start our first church. We are praying God will open the doors to get back, as currently, the visa situation has become more difficult. We desire to get back and continue taking the truth of the Gospel to people in need.

Sarah

By the grace of God, I was born into a strong Christian home. My father is a preacher and my mother has a wonderful testimony as a godly wife and mother. At an early age, I was taught about how I needed a Savior. When I was six, I prayed a prayer because I thought that was what I was expected to do, not realizing that a prayer itself is not what forgives one of their sins. I struggled under conviction for several years before, at twelve years old, I asked the Lord to forgive me for my sins and I accepted His finished work on the cross. I had the amazing priviledge to attend the Christian academy, which is a ministry of my home church, Fellowship Baptist Church in Wytheville, Virginia. After I graduated high school in 2007, the Lord lead me to attend Crown College in Powell, Tennessee to gain a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. It was while there, that I first met my husband. I graduated in 2011 and was given the opportunity to teach in the Christian academy that I graduated from. While there, I taught a combined classroom of K4-2nd grades, as well as, teaching both elementary and high school music. In May of 2013, a guy I knew of in college (aka Brady) contacted me to catch up and reminisce. We began a long distance relationship the next month. Six months later we were engaged, and a few short months later, we were married. God’s hand can clearly be seen in every aspect of our lives and it is amazing to know that He wants and has used us to take the Gospel to a world in need.

by Jeffrey Bush

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

Your thoughts/focus can determine your health. Seems crazy, right? But, according to the wisest man on earth, Solomon, a happy heart is like medicine whereas a sad or broken spirit brings painful, dried-out bones. 

Stress, worry, anger, and sadness are a few of the emotions that lead to a broken spirit, and that broken spirit dries the bones. The bone structure is what holds up the body, yet the broken spirit appears to cripple the body (physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally). When your spirit is cast down, it takes a toll on the body. The smile is wiped away, shoulders slump, eyes look down, and the body language suggests defeat. 

If you look to God and how good He has been to you, it’s like an immunity booster that keeps you on the right track. If you focus on your struggles and problems around you, you’ll begin to feel the pain of your bones drying. Fix your focus and attitude, and according to this verse, it takes care of a big portion of your health. 

The psalmist is quick to say that it is God that makes one glad (Psalm 92:4). The Apostle Paul reminds us to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). And the Psalmist teaches that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalms 16:11). Your focus affects your health. Fix your focus and it’ll be one of the greatest medicines offered in this world. The Spirit of God that made the spirit of man has the answer for your satisfaction, and it appears to be connected to your focus. Know God, grow in God, and focus on God, and your health will thank you for it!

We enjoyed our final WCMT group of the summer. Out of this group, four of them signed a volunteer pledge! There was a good spirit and response from the group.

This summer, God gave us over 70 young people that visited the VBM campus and learned more about missions!! Praying we will see good fruit from these groups. 

We planned two weeks for next year, and will add a third when these two fill up. Next year’s dates are: 

1. June 10-13, 2025
2. July 22-25, 2025

Click here for more information or to register!

VBM is blessed by the volunteers who help open mail, organize, and get other things accomplished. If you would like to volunteer, please let us know. We would love to have you visit us on campus! 

Praise the Lord for the great reviews that we have gotten on Google about VBM and the events this summer! Google search Vision Baptist Missions to check them out, or better yet, leave one yourself! 

Congratulations to Stephen and Leslie Carrier for finding a location for the future home of Joy Baptist Church. The picture is of Sebastian (going with his family to help start) and Stephen in front of the future church building. Lord willing, they will be starting in October.

This section is so you can learn more about (or be reminded of) VBM missionaries serving around the world. We will be working in alphabetical order, and the next missionary is Adam & Ashley Walz.

Adam:

When I was 5 years old, I gave my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. At the age of 7, I remember very clearly a deep desire to serve the Lord and preach His Word. When I was 16, I began traveling as an intern with a children’s evangelist. Once I turned 20, I started on my own full time.

In 2018 the Lord made it clear to my wife and I that He was leading us to become missionaries. I didn’t know that entailed or where He would lead us, I just knew we had to obey and follow

Ashley:

I grew up in a Christian home where my parents were faithful in bringing me to church every time the doors were open. When I was 8 years old, it was there that I realized my need for a Savior and asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins. As I got older, God really burdened my heart to give my life to Him. As a teenager, I remember coming to Him broken and telling Him that my life was His. I wanted to live out His purpose and plan, not my own. Through studying God’s Word and prayer, He led me to ministry. God brought Adam into my life and has burdened us both to train leaders in the country of Taiwan.

We are so excited to be hosting a World’s Cheapest Mission Trip event this week! Pray that we will have a great time and the hearts of these young people will be open to the need to reach the world with the Gospel!

Mindy and Jeff finished the week at the Arise Conference in Pigeon Forge, TN. They had a great time, and the Lord gave us some good contacts. Pray for these young people as they seek to follow the Lord wherever He may lead!

Monday we had a work day in preparation for our visitors arriving today as well as our upcoming semester. Much work was accomplished, and a special thanks to the many hands that helped make the work light. 

Congratulations to Ben Cherry on baptizing a couple of new believers in South Africa, one of whom he led to the Lord.  And a special thanks to the Africa team for allowing Ben to serve his internship with you. 

We are very pleased to report that the Our Generation Training Center now has an “Articulation Agreement” with Veritas Baptist College! This means that OGTC graduates should be able to go straight into a graduate program at Veritas, provided they also have some general education credits in courses such as Composition I & II from Veritas or another online source such as sophia.org or straighterline.com. Pray that this will be a valuable resource for OGTC graduates as the move forward in ministry!

This section is so you can learn more about (or be reminded of) VBM missionaries serving around the world. We will be working in alphabetical order, and the next missionary family, P and A, serves in a creative access country.

P

    As a child, I spent most of my waking hours at either at church or the Christian school connected to it. I heard the gospel almost everyday and learned much of the Bible before I was a teenager. However, I did not personally trust in Jesus as my Savior until I was in junior high. 

    During a Wednesday evening service at our church, the junior high-class leader told us he would no longer be able to teach our class. For his last time teaching us, he wanted to share with us the gospel as clearly as he could. He shared many verses I had heard and memorized my whole life, but knew in my heart that I had never applied them to my life. I shared this with my dad on the way home from church, and he went through the truths of scripture with me again. As we pulled into the driveway, I trusted Jesus to save me from my sins!

    The following summer, the very first Our Generation Camp took place. I was too young to attend, but my brother was involved in the planning and pulled some strings. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by missionaries and young people excited about serving God. That week, God did a work in my heart that changed my life forever. I signed the World Evangelism Pledge, and I praise the Lord for preparing me and using me in missions ever since then.

    The 20 years from signing the pledge until now have been a wonderful journey of experiencing God’s love, patience and teaching. I look forward to the great work he will do in me and through me over the next 20 years! May my life be a worthy sacrifice to His Great Name!

A

    I grew up at church and attended a Christian school. I trusted in Christ for salvation when I was 9 years old. The next summer, I attended a local church camp and surrendered my life to full-time Christian service. At the time, I didn’t really understand what this meant, I just knew that I wanted to serve the Lord with my life.

    My identity was wrapped up in sports and academics as a high-school student, and I lost focus on my commitment to Christ and my desire to serve Him. The Lord redirected my priorities when I was a senior. I spent a few weeks of my summer serving at a camp for underprivileged youth bussed in from a nearby city. My heart broke wide open for the kids coming from broken homes and places of violence and addiction. Leaders at that camp encouraged me to honor my commitment to serve the Lord.

    After a year away at college, my future husband invited me to go with a group on a missions trip to Burkina Faso. Though the trip was difficult, God gave me comfort and direction that this would be His path for me. He proposed soon after our trip, and we were married the next spring. We moved to Alpharetta 4 months later and began our time at OGTC. The Lord has blessed our family and taught us to trust Him through our time training and serving on the mission field. We are enjoying raising our children in a foreign country and seeing God work among people there.

We are inaugurating a new men’s dorm on campus this fall! We are posting this list on social media , and would like to let you participate as well if you’d like. We have completed the men’s dorm and are now furnishing and preparing it for the fall semester starting in August! Special thanks to Jason & Lori Holt and Josh & Morgan Barton for their purchases off the list! We received other items that did not include a name so please let us know if you sent something! If you’d like to help, here is what is left on the LIST!