About Us

 

Our Story

Billy and Mary Ann are above all else followers of Jesus! In addition, they have four sons and an entire youth ministry who keep them on their feet and on their knees.

Billy received Christ as his Saviour at the age of 13 at a basketball tournament. Upon graduating high school, he attended Bible college where he met Mary Ann. Shortly after earning their degrees, God brought them to First Baptist Church in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, where Billy has served as the Youth Pastor for over 20 years. Upon becoming the Missions Pastor at FBC. God began working in their hearts to serve as missionaries.

Mary Ann was blessed to grow up in a Christian family where she learned about her Saviour from a young age. When she was 13 years old, she asked Jesus into her heart. In college, she was unsure about what God would have her do with her life but she knew for sure she wanted to serve Him. She began serving at FBC with the youth, teaching elementary school, leading ladies’ groups, and serving and loving her family!

With no doubt, we know that God wants us to spend the next stage of our life in Portugal as your missionaries.

 
 

Our Plan

We believe with all of our heart that God has called us to do three important things in our life:

  • Move to Nebraska and be the Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church.

  • Adopt our two sons, LaCory and Daniel.

  • Go to Portugal to reach the lost.

    *Our goal is to be on the field by the Fall of 2024.

Our Focus will be:

  • Church Planting

  • Evangelism & Discipleship

  • Leadership Development

 

Our Church

Our sending church:

First Baptist Church

16220 Hwy 75, Plattsmouth, NE 68048
Pastor Raymond Wicks

We have had the privilege to serve at FBC for over 22 years. During this time, we have built many strong relationships that will be instrumental in our support structure as we transition to serve in Portugal.

 

Our Agency

Our Mission Agency:

BEMA

4744 Winchester Pike
Columbus, Ohio 43232
Phone: 614.833.0488

BEMA has been serving missionaries for nearly 100 years.

 

 

 

What We Believe

  • We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God.  We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the sixty-six books from Genesis to Revelation.  We believe God not only inspired every word, but also has preserved them through the ages.  (Psalm 12:6-7; II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:19-21).

  • We believe in one God, who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable.  We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance, yet manifests Himself to man in three persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; I Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; I John 4:4).

  • We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Savior of mankind.  We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God’s kingdom.  We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them.  We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin.  This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin.  It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the Cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection.  We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time of receiving His church at the Rapture, and returning seven years later to earth to rule and reign as King for 1,000 years (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 2:5; I Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; I Peter 1:19, 2:2; I John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6).

  • We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity.  We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind.  However, we believe He has a special ministry which began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture.  This ministry includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12:13).

  • We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam.  We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power.  We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as his Saviour.  We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross can a man be delivered from his sin.  We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14).

  • We believe the Scriptures teach that God created man and woman as unique biological persons. God’s plan for the union of marriage is that a biological man and a biological woman come together and covenant to be one flesh for life in a monogamous union that is spiritual, emotional, and physical. God’s plan for sexual union is for its expression to be only within the bounds of this male and female marital union. We believe that a person’s true identity is found and fulfilled in Christ alone and in a relationship with him. Therefore, a Christian is not to embrace identities, desires, and behaviors that are contrary to the expressed teaching of Scripture. (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9)

  • We believe the church began with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ and was empowered on the day of Pentecost.  We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and to observe the ordinances of believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper.  We believe all true believers will be taken up at the Rapture, just prior to the Tribulation (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; I Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 3:4-15).

  • We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context.  We believe in the pre-tribulational Rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year Tribulation.  We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of one thousand years.  Following this one thousand years is the Great White Throne judgment and then the new Heaven and new earth (I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:1-9; Revelation 19-22).

 

Mark 10:45
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.