BBFI Missions relocates to new Springfield campus

Springfield-based BBFI Missions, part of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, has relocated its headquarters to a campus that's wrapping up construction on the west side of town.

Jon Konnerup, mission director for BBFI Missions, said office staff have nearly completed their move to a new 13,000-square-foot building at 4100 W. World Mission Ave., along West Sunshine Street.

"We have around 3,500 churches around the United States that are involved in our network. Right now, we have around 600 missionaries in 80 different countries," said Konnerup. "We are the service center for them."

Konnerup said 18 full-time and two part-time employees at BBFI Missions support missionary work worldwide.

"We do a lot. Everyone wears multiple hats," he said.

BBFI Missions previously operated at 720 E. Kearney St., a building that was completed in 1987, Konnerup said.

That building was known, in part, for a globe statue out front. The globe was moved by semitruck to the new campus on April 18, according to a BBFI Missions Facebook post.

The Kearney Street building is being donated to the adjacent Mission University, formerly Baptist Bible College, said Konnerup. Mission University partners with Baptist Bible Fellowship International, according to past reporting.

Mission University President Mark Milioni said plans for the building have not been finalized but that a welcome center, classrooms, and administration and finance offices are being considered.

"We are very grateful for the kindness and partnership of the BBFI mission office," Milioni said via email. "This gift is a great win-win for both organizations. While achieving their goal of a new missionary support center, their old building is a great first step in our future plans to update our facilities."

BBFI is wrapping up work on a 30-acre campus west of the Sunshine Street and West Bypass intersection that has a total project cost in excess of $7 million, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Beyond the office building, BBFI Missions would have on the campus five short-term apartments for traveling missionaries, as well as retirement apartments for missionaries nearing the ends of their careers, Konnerup said. He said seven retirement apartments are being built, and a slab is ready for seven more.

An open-plan building that would serve a dual purpose as a missionary training center and a community center also is in the works on the campus grounds, according to past reporting.

Crossland Construction Co. Inc. is general contractor for the campus project designed by Burkholder Design Collaborative LLC, SBJ previously reported.