BCPM Staff - Rev. Mike Foster
Mike grew up in Davison, MI, where he and his family were active in the church for fifteen years. He was saved at a Christian camp when he was twelve years old. In 1989, he and his family moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where he attended Morningside Baptist Church while finishing his high school career at Hampton Park Christian School. After four and a half years at Bob Jones University, where he graduated with a degree in Music Education, he moved to Vassar where he was a teacher at Juniata Christian School for six and a half years. While at Juniata, Mike taught music, speech, Bible and math classes; published a book of arrangements; helped in many ministries of the church; and was involved with missions and evangelistic outreaches in the church and around the world. In 2002, the Lord called him into evangelism working specifically with Baptist Church Planting Ministry and Dr. Earl Jessup.
Bonnie Foster is a pastor’s kid who grew up in Vassar, Michigan. She was saved in her home at four years of age. After graduating from Juniata Christian School in 1992, she went to Bob Jones University, where she received her degree in Office Administration. After college, she came back to Michigan, where she worked in Lansing for State Representative Mike Green. In 2000, she left work to get married and worked at Juniata Christian School as the secretary until January of 2003. Bonnie has been involved with many ministries at Juniata including the bus ministry, junior church, visitation and an adult handicapped Sunday School class. Before she was married, she took two mission trips, one to Grenada and the other to Ireland. A couple of years ago, the Fosters went to South Africa to work with Eric and Katie Graham and the Brosnans. Mike and Bonnie have two girls, Grace Elisabeth and Lauryn Brooke.
Mike's Personal Testimony
I grew up in a Christian home, so I attended church and was involved in church activities my whole childhood. However, my decision to trust Christ did not occur until I visited the Wilds Christian Camp when I was twelve. On that rainy day, I remember that I prayed with my CIT (Counselor in Training) and received Christ as my Savior.
The next few years of junior high and high school were years of spiritual regret as I strayed from the Lord and got involved with the wrong crowd. Though I never did anything terribly wicked, I know that I lived in grievance against the Holy Spirit of God. Despite strong conviction and working of the Holy Spirit, I still refused to give in to the Lord and turn my life over to Him. As a result, I wasted about seven years of my life living in rebellion against God and my parents. In between my sophomore and junior years of college, the Lord continued working in my heart until He finally brought me to my knees on July 9, 1994, when I had a Grand mall seizure for no apparent reason. I believe God was bringing me back to Himself. I surrendered my life to Him and have served Him wholeheartedly ever since.
Upon my arrival at Juniata Baptist Church, I was put to work in the ministry at the school. I had always had a burden and desire for missions and had experienced the joy of serving on several mission fields. However, my mind was not clear as to what the Lord would have me do with my life. I believe the Lord had me come to Juniata to learn the Word of God, to learn how to trust the Lord in trials, to draw closer to Him in my everyday life, to understand more about the Spirit-filled life and to find my wonderful wife, Bonnie Flanders, whom I married in July of 2000.
After a big disappointment in our lives, I had the opportunity to sit and talk to an evangelist who had come for a week of meetings at our school. After this discussion, I came face-to-face with one of the biggest decisions I would ever have to make. Up to that point in my life, everything I did revolved around my music, and I assumed this would be my path in life. However, for about five years, I felt like something was missing. The description this visiting preacher gave of an evangelist seemed to fit my life and my desires. After much prayer, I came to the conclusion that, though I did not feel qualified to be a preacher, the Lord would give me the gifts I needed to preach the Word of God.
For several years, Dr. Jessup and Baptist Church Planting Ministry had been looking for someone to come on staff and assist Dr. Jessup in the ministry he had been working in for ten years. In March of 2002, I felt the Lord leading me to call Dr. Earl Jessup, and we spoke about the possibility of my coming on staff and laboring with him. I believe Dr. Jessup does the work of an evangelist, and that seemed to be the direction the Lord was burdening me to pursue. My wife and I yielded to the Holy Spirit’s call on our lives, and we met with Dr. Jessup about participating in Baptist Church Planting Ministry. Since then, my desire and burden has been to be involved in church planting and to preach in churches as an evangelist.