History

RBM Ministries, formerly Rural Bible Mission, began in the heart of a Michigan pastor in the early thirties. B. F. Hitchcock caught the vision in a one-room country school north of Battle Creek. There he saw a mission field of boys and girls untouched by any church or Sunday school.

In 1935, B. F. Hitchcock resigned his church. With Bible in hand and drawing board under his arm, the "Bible Man" visited rural schools in several Michigan counties. Churches, schoolhouses, and town halls opened their doors for Summer Bible Schools. By 1940, other men joined hands with him. In 1944, these men incorporated the Rural Bible Mission in the State of Michigan. 

The years have passed; the personnel have changed. B. F. Hitchcock went to be with the Lord in 1960. But the Mission's goal remains: to assist local churches in shaping the eternal destiny of souls by the Word of God. We are committed to doing this wherever we see the need and an open door. Above all, there is a divine compassion for that one boy and that one girl who need to hear about Jesus Christ. That is why we focus on "Serving the Church by Reaching the Children."

Through the years, the ministry has grown to reach communities across Michigan. In some counties, our Released Time Bible Classes (RTBC’s) are reaching children in every school system. Over seventy-five percent of the students in some schools are attending, and some reports show that more than half of those attending are not being reached by any church or Sunday school. During our time with the children, we teach them from God’s Word, share how they can know Jesus as their Savior, and provide practical ways they can grow in their faith and their obedience to Christ.

Follow-up

When a child comes to know Christ as Savior, we desire that he or she receives spiritual encouragement and continues to grow in Christ. Upon receiving Christ, a child has the opportunity to enroll in our correspondence follow-up program. It is designed to help boys and girls understand what it means to be a Christian and how to live the Christian life. The pastor of a local church may also receive the name and address of the new believer so additional follow-up is possible.

Church-Related Activities

Our missionaries are available to assist local churches in youth meetings, Bible clubs, special meetings, pulpit supply, and missionary conferences. They are also able to do "Junior Missionary Conferences." Your RBM worker is ready to help you. Please contact us for additional details.

Doctrinal Statement

• We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings. 
• We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, and born of Mary, a virgin, and is true God and true man.
• We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, are sinners in word, thought, and deed.
• We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.
• We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven, and in His present life there as High Priest and Advocate.
• We believe in "that blessed hope," the personal, pre-millennial and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.
• We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the lost.
• We believe in the fellowship of believers in the body of Christ and the autonomy of the local New Testament Church.
• We believe that the Scriptural ordinances of the Church are water Baptism by immersion for believers and the Lord's Supper for believers.
• We believe in the principles of Biblical separation.

Financial Policy

RBM Ministries is not financially endowed by any denomination or community fundraising groups. The ministry depends entirely upon the gifts of churches and individuals. Such tax-deductible contributions are promptly receipted and acknowledged.