Overview
Bible Centered Ministries International is a global non-denominational ministry dedicated to Reaching Children and Developing Churches worldwide. BCM has more than 850 missionaries serving in over 50 countries across five continents as well as Pacific and Caribbean islands. We are committed to making disciples of all age groups for the Lord Jesus Christ through evangelism, teaching and training so that churches are established and the Church strengthened.
BCM ministers through evangelism, church planting, discipleship, leadership training and publishing Bible curriculum and teaching materials. Children’s ministries such as Bible clubs, released time classes, and camps are central to all BCM fields. BCM is also involved in compassion ministries such as disaster relief, community health care and development, and counseling.
Our Heritage
BCM International was founded in 1936 as the Bible Club Movement when a returning American missionary, Miss Bessie Traber, listened to the pleading of Philadelphia youth to give them Bible clubs like those she’d organized in the Philippines. Over the next decades the Bible Club Movement spread into Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. As children’s ministries expanded to Christian camping, church planting, leadership training, publishing Bible curriculum and teaching materials, and a variety of compassion and counseling ministries, BCM modified its name to reflect its ever-widening focus.
Today Bible Centered Ministries International has more than 850 missionaries representing five different continents serving in more than 50 countries around the world. BCM regional headquarters train and commission missionaries and church leadership in North America, Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
With half the developing world under 21, children’s ministries remain a key focus. Over 1.3 million children hear God’s Word in Bible Clubs and released-time classes around the world, and BCM camping programs have been established in more than 25 fields. As families and whole communities have been impacted, more than 5,000 churches have been planted worldwide.
Disaster relief, health clinics, aid to orphans, widows and handicapped, HIV/AIDS education and micro-enterprise programs are meeting physical as well as spiritual needs. BCM’s Bible curriculum Footsteps of Faith and Tiny Steps of Faith and other publications, along with its teacher training course, In Step with the Master Teacher, are equipping churches around the world to disciple children in God’s word.
Key partnerships with other international organizations, such as Handi*Vangelism Ministries International, New Hope International, Mainland China Mission International, Comfort Foundation (Vologda, Russia) and Life Change Ministries International (Hyderabad, India) allow strategic multiplication of BCM’s global impact.
What We Do
Reaching Children
The 4-14 Window is defined as that window of opportunity between the ages of four to fourteen when more than 85% of Christians make their decision to follow Christ. With more than 2 billion children falling into this category and almost half the world’s population under 21, BCM International has made this strategic 4-14 Window the central focus of its ministry since beginning as the Bible Club Movement in 1936. All around the world BCM is committed to partnering with local churches to reach children for Christ and disciple them in God’s Word.
Developing Churches
In order to introduce the lost to Christ and nurture new believers, BCM remains focused on partnering with established churches for the cause of world evangelization. We also seek to plant Bible-believing churches in neighborhoods where none exist, whether in large cities or remote villages. The objective is to ensure that they are culturally relevant and have a vision to reach their own community and beyond.
Training Leaders
Through Bible institutes, regional and local teacher training and church leadership courses, seminars, college and seminary instruction, small group Bible studies, and hands-on practical ministry opportunities, BCM missionaries are training a new generation of Christian leaders around the world. BCM’s Bible curricula Footsteps of Faith and Tiny Steps of Faith and other publications, along with their teacher training course, In Step with the Master Teacher, now available in more than 25 languages, provide Bible-centered and culturally-appropriate resources for local church leadership to disciple and train their membership and evangelize their community for Christ.
Teacher Training
Raising up children’s ministry leaders for the local church is a key focus of ministry in every country where BCM carries out ministry. BCM’s teacher training course In Step With The Master Teacher was developed with input from national children’s workers in more than 20 countries—many of them from developing nations. Practical, Bible-centered, and relevant across cultural boundaries, this exciting teacher-training program is the ultimate tool for preparing and training teachers to disciple children as Jesus did: by modeling God’s truth, by building relationships, and by teaching for response. In an interactive CD-ROM format , ISMT offers 22 hours of biblical, integrated teacher training sessions full of creative and practical ideas that can be used regardless of the location, size, or budget of any children’s ministry. Available now in more than 15 languages, it has been used for teacher-training to date in more than 25 countries around the world.
Teacher Training
Raising up children’s ministry leaders for the local church is a key focus of ministry in every country where BCM carries out ministry. BCM’s teacher training course In Step With The Master Teacher was developed with input from national children’s workers in more than 20 countries—many of them from developing nations. Practical, Bible-centered, and relevant across cultural boundaries, this exciting teacher-training program is the ultimate tool for preparing and training teachers to disciple children as Jesus did: by modeling God’s truth, by building relationships, and by teaching for response. In an interactive CD-ROM format , ISMT offers 22 hours of biblical, integrated teacher training sessions full of creative and practical ideas that can be used regardless of the location, size, or budget of any children’s ministry. Available now in more than 15 languages, it has been used for teacher-training to date in more than 25 countries around the world.
Publications
BCM’s Genesis-to-Revelation curricula Footsteps of Faith and Tiny Steps of Faith provide Bible-centered and culturally-appropriate resources for local church leadership to disciple and train their membership and evangelize their community for Christ.
Demonstrating Compassion
Disaster relief, health clinics, street kids outreach, aid to orphans and widows, micro-enterprise programs, community and HIV/AIDS education, handi-camps and other ministries to the disabled are only some of the areas in which BCM missionaries, staff and volunteers minister on a weekly basis to physical as well as spiritual needs around the world.
Christian Camping
From the wild beauty of Ireland’s seashore to the lush tropics of India, Peru or the Caribbean, from the mountains and rural farmlands of North America to a secluded European retreat, BCM Christian camping programs now reach over 25,000 children each year in 25 different countries.