Baptist Bible Fellowship International exits iconic building on Kearney for new campus

The Baptist Bible Fellowship International mission office, better known in Springfield as the building with the giant globe out front, has found a new home on West Sunshine Street. The quarter-circle building at the corner of East Kearney Street and North Summit Avenue has been a service center for missionaries around the world since 1987.

According to Mission Director Jon Konnerup, BBFI currently has 600 missionaries in about 80 countries and works with 3500 churches around the U.S. The organization and its sister entity Baptist Bible College, now known as Mission University, have existed in Springfield since 1950.

"Our fellowship, it's been around awhile, and this has kind of rejuvenated some excitement," said Jon Konnerup, mission director at BBFI.

The globe was uninstalled from the office at 720 E. Kearney St. and reinstalled at the new sprawling 30-acre campus at 4100 W. World Mission Ave. on April 18, according to Konnerup. The 13,000-square-foot mission office, which is now complete, sits on 30 acres west of Springfield. BBFI has been developing on 10 of those acres.

The new mission office will soon be joined by an event center, seven units of housing for retired missionaries, and five units of short-term housing for traveling missionaries.

Expanding the BBFI mission: housing for retired, traveling missionaries

Konnerup said the dream to build housing for traveling and retired missionaries has existed since the mission office moved into the previous building on Kearney Street in 1987. But the property is boxed in by the college and other buildings. So the organization settled on 30 acres on West Sunshine Street. Now, there's already a running list of missionaries interested in housing on BBFI's new campus.

"Many times they're on the mission field internationally, and they've put everything they got into their work," Konnerup said. "And then when it's health reasons or their age, they don't have the means to take care of retirement."

BBFI is also building five units of short-term housing for working missionaries traveling through the Springfield area. Missionaries will be able to plan a stay at BBFI in Springfield from one night to two weeks at a cost of about $30 per night.

Next to the new mission office, a new event center is also coming up. The center will be for training new missionaries, but Konnerup said it will also be available for local churches to meet and for retired missionaries to hold events, such as family reunions.

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"With a new office, new look, we're hoping that it'll help just draw more interest," Konnerup said. "And then of course our missionaries are very excited to be able to have these facilities as an option for them. Some missionaries, they have families that can help take care of them. But some of them may not have many kids or families that have the means."

As for the last question: What's happening to the old building? According to Konnerup, some facilities are aging at Mission University. That's why BBFI is giving their old mission office building to the college for recruitment and administrative needs.

"It'll be a nice building for them," he said. "Some of their facilities are a little bit older."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: BBFI leaves Kearney mission office for new west Springfield campus