South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging (SCBMA) is a place of ministry, missions, and Great Commission work. While the ministry’s primary function is providing quality senior services at Bethea and Martha Franks Baptist retirement communities, the core of our activity is on being witnesses of Jesus Christ. It is through the distinctively Baptist heritage of Dr. Percy Bethea and Miss Martha Franks that, for more than 50 years, South Carolina Baptists have gracefully served many godly servants during the later stages of life, thus fulfilling the James 1:27 mandate “to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”
We must never forget our responsibility to love and minister to people. We celebrate that 25 percent of our population consists of retired pastors, missionaries, and ministry families. Likewise, more than 80 percent of our population professes to be Southern Baptist. While our ministry does serve as a safe place for believers, we are also on mission for the lost. Today, more than ever, our ministry is touching the lives of many seniors through rehabilitation services and outreach. Many of these individuals never would have experienced the genuine love of a Christian body of believers without the vision and generous contributions of Dr. Bethea and Miss Martha and the 50 years of support and contributions of South Carolina Baptist churches. The Cooperative Program giving and support from South Carolina Baptist churches, along with the Mother’s Day Offering, have been vital to keeping SCBMA working and serving in South Carolina.
SCBMA is so much more that a retirement community. It is a place where former pastors, pastors’ wives, missionaries, and Christian laypeople utilize their life experiences to continue their Christian service, living out the Great Commandment that Jesus gave us in Mark 12:30 to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Bethea and Martha Franks provide a lively and spirited focus on prayer warrior ministries as well as in-reach ministries to those dealing with physical issues and loss of independence. The senior adults living on these campuses are praying for and assisting with the facilitation of mission work not only here in South Carolina but also nationally and internationally. This mission work takes many forms, such as the annual “Come to Bethlehem Village” at Bethea, the partnering with the Laurens Baptist Association’s Crisis Center’s food bank drive, the Bethea Singers, and the Hispanic Roofer Ministry at Martha Franks.
It is with much Christian love and appreciation that SCBMA partners with South Carolina Baptists to serve and minister to these widows and elderly, disciple believers, evangelize and win lost souls, and serve as a launching pad for both Great Commission and Great Commandment work.
As a board, we understand that there are many avenues to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. SCBMA serves senior adults, retired home and international missionaries, and pastors who have gone before us to pave the way for all South Carolina Baptists serving all over the United States and the world. Thank you, South Carolina Baptists, for caring for all people of this state and living out the Great Commission as well as the Great Commandment. We invite you to “come and see” what God has done and will continue to do at SCBMA.
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