Countless short-term trips have filled the 20 years that Frank Blackwell has served as minister of missions for Hunter Street Baptist Church, Hoover. But he says he’s gotten the blessing of seeing how those have added up in the long term.
“Being here a long time, you get to see the progress,” said Blackwell, who will retire from the position in February. “You get to see God work, see prayers answered, see people commit to long-term missions and see people become more aware of unreached people groups.”
When Blackwell moved his family to Birmingham from Mississippi in 1991, he wasn’t in full-time ministry yet, but he had felt a call to missions since he was a young boy in Vacation Bible School.
“I didn’t understand fully what that meant at that time, but I did have a sense of calling,” he said.
And when Hunter Street asked Blackwell to become their minister of missions in January 2000, it all clicked into place.
“It’s been a joint effort all along,” he said of his two decades at the church. “From our pastor at the top and with significant support of our staff and laypeople we have been able to reach people both locally and around the world with the gospel.” (Grace Thornton)
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