THE MISSION CONTINUES…

50 Years of Ministry 

2024 was a historic year in the life of our organization. We celebrated and honored our 50-year legacy as Baptist Medical and Dental Mission International through six Regional Conferences, a 50th Celebration in Honduras, and a virtual global Vision Night. 

When our founders, Charlie and Carolyn Herrington, decided to obey God’s calling for their lives, their dream was to plant indigenous self-sustaining churches and equip local pastors with training in Honduras with the intent of being salt and light in their villages. After a few years living in Honduras and witnessing suffering from the lack of basic medical and dental care, the Lord gave them a vision of what today we know as “short-term mission teams.” In 1974, short-term mission trips were unheard of and truly were not in existence, but Charlie and Carolyn recognized the power and potential of short-term teams to support national churches and pastors to serve the poor and sick. 

Over the past 50 years, BMDMI has sent over 1,700 teams and over 55,000 team members. As an organization, we have impacted close to 3,000,000 lives with 268,000 professions of faith. We currently serve in 5 countries including the U.S. To God be the glory.

Our Purpose 

Charlie and Carolyn’s dream was never to grow BMDMI into a massive organization. Their goal was to simply be faithful with what God placed in front of them. The story of BMDMI is simple. It’s a story of a faithful God who has provided every step of the way, and it’s a story of ordinary people who have been obedient to an extraordinary God. 

For 50 years, BMDMI has been blessed with the opportunity to evangelize the lost, disciple the saved, and minister to the needs of the poor. Our focus has always been and will continue to be equipping pastors, planting self-sustaining churches, caring for the vulnerable, supporting missionaries, and mobilizing short-term mission teams. 

The Next 50 Years 

The next 50 years of our ministry will continue this mission and continue telling the story of God’s faithfulness. We are still an organization filled with ordinary people being faithful to an extraordinary God. As we look ahead to the next 50 years and beyond, it is imperative that we build upon the foundation God has already set, while more clearly communicating who we are as an organization. 

Commissioned International 

After a two-year comprehensive strategic planning process and rebranding initiative, we are honored to present our new name: Commissioned International. 

This new name and brand maintains the rich integrity and history of our organization while allowing us to bring focus and clarity to our ministry. While medical and dental brigades pioneered the way across Central America, today our team members can serve in a variety of roles in addition to medical and dental work. We wanted our brand to fully encapsulate this. 

Commissioned International places value on our 50-year legacy by incorporating the “Mission International” part of BMDMI and centering it solely on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the authority under which we serve. It represents our commitment to The Great Commission and our historical mission. Whether serving through giving, through going, through praying, we are all obeying the command of The Great Commission to take the gospel to the nations. Commissioned International places focus on what God has called us to do:

– We have been COMMISSIONED to evangelize the lost;
– We have been COMMISSIONED to disciple the saved;
– And we have been COMMISSIONED to minister to the needs of the poor.

Commissioned International clearly reflects our vision and allows us to refocus on who we are as an organization: 

– Our vision is still to mobilize and equip people for God’s global glory.
– Our mission is still to evangelize the lost, disciple the saved, and minister to the needs of the poor.
– Our strategy is still to equip pastors, plant self-sustaining churches, care for the vulnerable, support missionaries, and mobilize short-term mission teams.

As you can tell, only our name has changed. What remains true to our core is that we are a part of God’s mission, and as part of His mission, we have been commissioned to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. As we embark on the future that God has for us as an organization, we will stay submitted to the Lordship of Jesus and steward all that God has entrusted to us. To God be the glory.