The Gospel Furthering Fellowship

The Gospel Furthering Fellowship GFF is an Independent Baptist servant-ministry which helps local churches by training and assisting missionaries with integrity!

Open Door Baptist Church
06/16/2026



Open Door Baptist Church

Whether by Cannibals or by WormsJune 2026When John G. Paton carried the Gospel to the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu...
06/05/2026

Whether by Cannibals or by Worms
June 2026

When John G. Paton carried the Gospel to the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, he did not go alone. In 1858, he sailed with his young wife, Mary, to the island of Tanna, where the people were known for violence, heathenism, and cannibalism. Within months, Mary died of fever. Their infant son died soon after. Paton buried them both with his own hands and remained as long as he could among the very people he had come to reach.

Before he arrived, many warned him not to go. One elderly Christian gentleman, Mr. Dickson, often said, “The Cannibals, you will be eaten by cannibals!” Paton replied:

"Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you that if I can live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer."

That was not carelessness. It was consecration. Paton did not pretend the danger was imaginary. He simply measured danger against eternity. The real question was not whether he could preserve his earthly life, but whether he would spend it for the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls.

After being forced to leave Tanna, Paton later returned to the New Hebrides and labored on the island of Aniwa with his second wife, Margaret. There God gave remarkable fruit. Paton learned the language, taught the people, ministered to their needs, translated Scripture, trained native teachers, and saw many turn from darkness to Christ. The island that had once seemed closed to the Gospel became a place where worship, Scripture, and Christian testimony took root. Paton was not eaten by cannibals. By God’s grace, many former cannibals were brought under the sound of the Gospel.
Gospel Furthering Fellowship exists because the work is not finished. There are still many places where Christ is not known and where no faithful Gospel witness stands. May God raise up laborers who, like Paton, are willing to go, willing to suffer, and willing to trust the resurrection while carrying the living Gospel to the uttermost.

For the glory of Christ!
J. Rodney Myers
GFF Director

The Gospel Shadow EffectThe Atacama Desert of northern Chile is often called the driest place on earth. In some regions,...
05/31/2026

The Gospel Shadow Effect

The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is often called the driest place on earth. In some regions, years pass without measurable rainfall. Certain weather stations have never recorded a single drop. While the Pacific Ocean lies along its western border, the desert remains remarkably dry because it sits between two mountain ranges, the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range.

These mountains create what meteorologists call a rain shadow. Moisture from both the Pacific and Atlantic is blocked before it can reach the land between them. On one side of the mountains, rainfall produces fertile valleys and flourishing vegetation. On the other side lies an arid landscape where little can survive.

This natural phenomenon provides a sobering picture of what we often see in world missions.

Many unreached and under-reached peoples live immediately beyond lands that have enjoyed generations of Gospel influence. They may share similar cultures, languages, and trade routes, yet one population has access to churches, Scripture, and Christian witness while the other remains in spiritual darkness.

The difference is often not geography, government, or language. It is the absence of Gospel messengers.

A spiritual shadow forms when those who have received the Good News become content to keep it within their own borders. Beyond that shadow are millions who have little or no access to a clear presentation of the Gospel of Christ.

Yet God specializes in bringing life where none seems possible. He can open fountains in the desert and rivers in dry places (Isaiah 41:18). He can also bring the Living Water of Christ to people who have spent generations in spiritual drought.

The question is not whether God is able. The question is whether His people are willing.

If churches that have long possessed the Gospel will not carry it beyond the shadow, then let us go. Let us send laborers into the dry places. Let us take the message of Christ beyond the mountains and into the regions still waiting for the rain.

Going Farther On,

J. Rodney Myers
General Director
Gospel Furthering Fellowship

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Open Door Baptist Church

05/22/2026

Biblical missions is the local church sending qualified Gospel preachers to the unreached in another country cross-culturally, with the goal of evangelizing the lost, discipling believers, planting autonomous local churches, and continuing the same process among other unreached peoples.

Local outreach, domestic church planting, mercy ministries, and helps ministries are all valuable, but they are not missions in the proper biblical sense. They may prepare for missions, support missions, or strengthen churches that send missionaries, but missions itself is directed toward the unreached in the uttermost.

If we learn the difference, we can lead the charge for reaching the unreached with healthy local churches.

“READ THAT AGAIN!” We talk a lot about “reaching the world.” But here’s a math problem that should stop us cold. Joshua ...
01/01/2026

“READ THAT AGAIN!”

We talk a lot about “reaching the world.” But here’s a math problem that should stop us cold. Joshua Project currently reports 7,124 unreached people groups in the world.

Now imagine (not unrealistically) that there are roughly 14,000 independent Baptist and Bible churches in the USA that believe the gospel the same or similarly as we do. What if half of those churches—7,000 churches—adopted just one unreached people group each? Not “support a missionary already doing it.” Not “share a post about it.” But pray, plan, and raise up someone from their own congregation to go as a church-planting missionary.

Let’s be honest about the timeline: 10 years of praying, planning, training, and sending then 10 more years to learn language/culture and plant one church That’s 20 years. If 7,000 churches did that—just one people group each—then in 20 years we’d go from 7,124 unreached people groups to roughly 124 remaining.

Read that again: 124. Down from 7,124! In ONE generation!

So the question isn’t, “Can it be done?” The question is, “Will we do it?” Not by hype. Not by conferences alone. Not by outsourcing obedience to others. But by local churches deciding that the Great Commission is not a department—it’s the mission.

Sobering thought: the bottleneck is not God’s power… it’s our willingness.

Who will your church adopt? GFF is actively praying for the Mahra of the Middle East, the Reindeer Herders of the Article Circle, and the Swahili speakers of East Africa.

Who will you train? GFF is praying and investing in young people within a few local churches and Christian schools.

Who will you send? What children and/or young people are in your own congregation now?

Don’t wait to see how 13,999 other churches will do so you can follow their lead…blaze the trail yourself! Livingstone is credited with replying to a letter asking him to help make ‘roads’ for missionaries: ‘If they’ll only come when there’s a road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.

Matthew 9:37–38 (KJV) “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”



12/01/2025

Dear Friend,
Since 1935, the Gospel Furthering Fellowship has been committed to taking the Gospel farther on—to the unreached, the unknown, and the often-forgotten corners of the world. For ninety years, GFF missionaries and partnering churches have labored to plant indigenous, self-supporting churches and to bring the hope of Christ to those who have never heard His Name.
Giving Tuesday is on December 2, 2025, and this year we are asking the Lord to provide the resources needed to strengthen two vital pillars of our mission: missionary preparation and missionary care. These ministries are essential if we are to equip new laborers for the field and sustain the faithful men already serving on the front lines of Gospel advance.
From training future missionaries, to shepherding those facing spiritual, emotional, and physical pressures abroad, GFF exists to uphold the hands of those carrying the Gospel to the uttermost. If we are going to keep reaching into places where Christ has not yet been named, then we must invest in those whom God is calling—and in those who are already pouring out their lives for Him today.
You can help us on Giving Tuesday (or even jut the days to come) in one of several ways:
• Give a one-time gift and invest directly in missionary readiness and ongoing missionary care (Checks made payable to GFF visit gffministries.com)
• Share this opportunity with friends who have a heart for missions and desire to see the unreached reached and missionaries go through personal debriefing.
• Pray sincerely that God will supply every need and raise up more laborers for His harvest.
Please consider partnering with GFF on Giving Tuesday as we continue—by God’s grace—to further the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
For the furtherance of the Gospel,
J. Rodney Myers
General Director
Gospel Furthering Fellowship

Address

875 Academy Drive
Myerstown, PA
17046

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 2pm
Wednesday 10am - 2pm
Thursday 10am - 2pm

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+17178661964

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