History
On May 22, 1948, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Missions Door was birthed for the purpose of preaching the Gospel and planting churches across the United States and the North American Continent. Established by mission-minded Christians who called themselves Conservative Baptists, the new mission adopted the name of the Conservative Baptist Home Mission Society.
The first missionaries—Robert and Winifred Johnson—were appointed on October 7, 1948, for ministry in Alaska. In addition to Alaska, early ministries were launched among Jewish people, Native Americans, Chinese and Hispanics in the United States. Soon missionaries were sent to Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica and French Canada. U.S. ministries were developed to focus upon suburban and rural church planting, ministry among Mormons in Utah, urban ministry in major cities across the country, and campus ministry among students at secular colleges and universities.
The name of the Mission was changed to Mission to the Americas in 1994. By this time ministry had been launched in Belize, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. In the 1990s the Mission began to facilitate partnership connections between U.S. churches and sister churches in Latin America and Cambodia. In 1996 ministry was initiated in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and soon after in Haiti.
In addition to expansion, the missionary family began to significantly grow in ethnic diversity with over 30 percent of the missionaries being non-Anglo by the year 2000. African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans were serving as missionaries to reach their own people. Immigrants from Brazil, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Liberia and the Philippines joined the missionary family to reach immigrant communities in the U.S. In our international ministries outside of the U.S., God raised up missionaries who were Belizeans, Dominicans, Haitians, Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans and Quebecois. The Mission had become international, not just in its ministry focus but in the composition of its missionary family!
Originally headquartered in the Chicago area, in 2001 the Mission relocated to the inner city neighborhood of Five Points in Denver, Colorado. Ministry among immigrants in the U.S. resulted in the development of ministry back to home countries in Asia and Africa—from there to here and back! With ministries developing beyond North America in Cambodia, China, Kenya, and Liberia, the name of the Mission was changed to Missions Door in 2007.
Now in our seventh decade of ministry, Missions Door is committed to the task of assisting local churches and Christ followers in their efforts to evangelize, disciple, train leaders, and plant churches among the unreached of our world. Much has changed in our world since 1948, but the need for forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ is greater than ever. Missions Door is connecting people with opportunities to make a difference in our world for Christ and His Kingdom. We invite you to come with us!
