As we reflect on our arrival in Australia in 1986, Juanita and I remember it as a wonderful time. God blessed and showed us His goodness in so many ways to get us there. We worked with another missionary, Sid Hunter, the first six months to become used to the culture. Then we started our first church, Victory Baptist Church. I also started a small Bible college class to train some of our men who wanted to learn more. Wayne Sehmish was one of those men, who later became the pastor of Victory Baptist Church. During those ten years, we started two more churches, Fellowship Baptist Church, which we turned over to Bob Bartlett, and Harmony Baptist Church.
Upon receiving a container of Scriptures from Bearing Precious Seed and a container of tracts from Fellowship Tract League, our house literally became a warehouse because we had no other place to store everything. It did not take long for the word to get out that we had these materials. We started receiving calls from all over Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea from pastors and missionaries wanting Scriptures and tracts. We became a distribution center, sending out what they needed. Many other pastors and missionaries came to our house to pick up the Scriptures and tracts. Through this ministry, we became acquainted with many other believers. God truly blessed this effort of distributing His Word.
We could see that the need was increasing to get the Word of God out to the people. Over that tenyear period, we had received several containers of Scriptures and tracts. We became known as “the people that had the distribution center for the Word of God.” As a result, in 1995 we started praying about starting a Bearing Precious Seed ministry there in Australia. We prayed for God to send us someone who loved His Word and wanted to be a part of this ministry. At that time, we were in our third church, Harmony Baptist Church, which was our largest. The people there were very soul-conscious with a spirit of unity, loving each other because they loved the Lord.
One Sunday, the Scofield family visited our church. Fred and Shirley and their three sons—Brett, Doug, and Craig—who were in their twenties, had moved into the area and soon heard about us. After Juanita and I invited them over for a meal, they told us that they came from a church of like faith and that they liked our church and wanted to join. As we talked that evening, I asked Fred what burden God had laid upon his heart. He replied that the Lord was leading him and his family to get out His Word.
A few months later in 1996, Bearing Precious Seed in Australia was birthed out of Harmony Baptist Church. Fred Scofield and his family surrendered their hearts and lives to take on this ministry. We already had the Message, but now we had the messengers; God needs and uses both to accomplish His purposes. We obtained a press and put it in Fred’s basement, where he began helping churches with personalizing tracts and with other printing needs. As Fred and I started visiting other churches, God blessed His messenger as we presented His Message. The ministry grew, and God blessed His church.
Juanita and I came home in 1997 and left the church with Paul Lyon, a man whom I had trained to become the pastor. During that time Bearing Precious Seed Australia was growing. A couple of years after we had returned to the States, Fred called me and asked if I thought it was a good idea to move the ministry to Lighthouse Baptist Church in Rockhampton. I told him to pray with me, his pastor, and the people at Harmony Baptist about moving the ministry. Ultimately, everyone came up with the same decision. It was God’s will for Fred to move to Lighthouse Baptist and to take BPS with him.
Robert Bakss is pastor at Lighthouse Baptist. After BPS was there for a while, Pastor Bakss asked if the name Bearing Precious Seed could be changed to Lighthouse Baptist Press so that people would know it was a ministry of their church. Today Lighthouse Baptist Press continues as a ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church; Fred continues to be in charge and is doing a wonderful job. The ministry still receives containers of Scriptures from Bearing Precious Seed Milford, which are sent all over Australia and islands and countries nearby.
When Juanita and I returned to Australia in 2003, Pastor Bakss invited me to preach for him. While we were there, I helped build the first building to house the Lighthouse Baptist Press ministry. Upon completion of the building, we all praised God and dedicated the building and ministry to the Lord. It has grown because the people are sending the Scriptures to those who need it. They also print for other churches in Australia and publish a paper called the Biblical Builder that is equivalent to the Sword of the Lord here in America.
In 2010, Juanita and I visited Lighthouse Baptist Church, and I had the privilege to preach for Pastor Bakss once again. While we were there, they received a really large order for whole Bibles, and Juanita and I were able to help collate twelve thousand whole Bibles in one-week’s time. The ministry is growing so fast that they already need to add another addition on to the building.
Juanita and I praise God for His grace, mercy, and goodness for letting us have a part in this great ministry in Australia.
