It is with great enthusiasm that we announce the appointment of Claire and Tim Marker as full-time NAB missionaries in the Philippines. For the last three years, Claire and Tim have been overseeing the ministry of the Bicol Center for Christian Leadership (BCCL) as NAB partner missionaries, with Claire serving as the BCCL director, but going forward they will be full-time, career-term missionaries with the NAB.
The work in the Philippines has a rich history within the NAB family. It began in the middle of the 1980s with an invitation from the Baptist General Conference Philippine Mission. Soon, the ministry grew and flourished through the service of former NAB missionaries – Lee & Jennell Bertsch and Gregg & Maria Evans – and national missionary Mayette Ativo-Bueno, who passed on the ministry of the BCCL to Claire, a former student at the BCCL.
Tim and Claire have been teachers at the BCCL for over twenty-six years combined, overseeing the ministry from the US since 2021. Recently, they felt God’s prompting to leave everything behind and return to the Philippines to serve full time.
We are thrilled that the mission/partnership will continue under the direction of Claire and Tim Marker, and we invite you to join their support team through prayer and financial gifts.
Would you join us in championing Claire and Tim’s vision for outreach, mobilization, and equipping leaders through education and example by giving to support them and the ministry at the BCCL? Their desire to transform head, heart, and hands for the sake of the Kingdom is inspiring.
To learn more about the ministry of the BCCL and Claire and Tim Marker, you can visit their missionary page on the NAB international missions website.
To give in support of Claire and Tim, whether that is a one-time gift or as an ongoing partner of their ministry, you can follow one of the links below.
The next cohort of Blue Ocean is now accepting registrants!
Blue Ocean is an entry point into the missional movement of the NAB in which NAB leaders engage in what it means to join God on mission, be formed into the character of Christ, and learn what it means to be a sent people. The cohort meets three times throughout the year and has been a formative piece to the NAB in recent years.
The first gathering takes places October 20–23, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and covers the topic “Missional Theology – Joining in with the God of Mission.”
The second gathering is in February 2025 in Auburn, California, with the final one taking place in April 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
Registration is free; the only cost to you is travel and accommodations. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by, as registration closes August 31.
Register for Blue Ocean 2024–25
Becoming a people of peace.
This was the theme of Triennial 2024, when we gathered as the entire North American Baptist Conference family in St. Paul, Minnesota, this past July 11–14 to hear from a number of pastors and leaders, both within and outside the NAB, such as April Wahl, Dr. Tony and Fabiola Campos, and CBC Executive President Rev. Dr. Charlemagne Nditemeh. But this Triennial was about so much more than just hearing from distinguished speakers and guests. It was about connecting with and supporting one another, celebrating all God is doing and is yet to do, and elevating emerging voices in the NAB – all of which are happening throughout the year. We cannot do this alone or without the faithful support of our NAB family, which is why we invite you to prayerfully consider your part in financially supporting our ongoing efforts with a gift to the Ministry Resource Fund.
When you give $50, $100, $500, or more to the Ministry Resource Fund, you are, in part, helping individuals and churches across the NAB – connecting them to other NAB leaders, celebrating and supporting what God is up to in our midst, and elevating emerging leaders within our Conference.