Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries Bill and Deb Edmondson and John and Bev Leonard received the honor of being named Alumni of the Year during Faith Baptist Bible College & Theological Seminary’s May 6, 2011, commencement service.
The awards, presented at the FBBC&TS campus in Ankeny, Iowa, are given annually to alumni who have distinguished themselves in their ministry or profession. The occasion was enhanced for the Leonards, who also celebrated the graduation of their son Jerrod and their nephew Josiah (son of Jim and Julie Leonard, who also serve with BMM in Brazil) at the same ceremony.
Bill and Deb Edmondson initially served with BMM’s Campus Bible Fellowship and later served in the pastorate and as FBBC faculty. They are once again serving with BMM in a dynamic church-planting ministry in Boston, a city strategically chosen because of its international population. From Boston they can multiply church planting as internationals take the gospel to their home countries. Bill completed a Doctor of Ministry degree in Missiology, choosing as his thesis topic Global-Church Planting in the Mobile Academic and Immigrant Communities of the Boston Metropolitan Area. For more information on their ministry, visit the Edmondsons’ website.
John and Bev Leonard serve in John’s home country of Brazil, where he grew up as a BMM MK, the son of Francis and the late Jerry Leonard. Serving in Brazil since 1990, the Leonards have been instrumental in starting eight churches. They have persevered despite their oldest son Joshua’s brain tumor, which left his vision permanently impaired. In 2005, John was shot in a murder attempt at his Brazilian church. He was left permanently paralyzed, but after extensive physical therapy, the Leonards returned to Brazil in 2007 and have helped start three churches since that time. Bev has shown great strength and love as she has helped both Joshua during his brain tumor battle and John with his daily needs.
To read more about the Edmondsons and Leonards, visit the FBBC&TS website.