BCFM, or Beyond Checkered Flags Ministries is relatively new in comparison to our history.
We came into a full time, volunteer, ministry as a family in 1987 …leaving a career as an over-the-road trucker and then as a Letter Carrier while I (Bob) went to school studying for Pastoral Ministry. Our daughters were age two and four when we arrived to serve with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) at the Salem, Oregon campus.
Those simple, early, ministry days were carried out under the YWAM banner and name. The Internet was still a new concept.
The name continued as our signature ministry name until we filed our own non-profit 501(c)3 ministry name in October 2005. We announced that changes were coming in September 2005 and even teased our family, friends, and ministry team members which includes our prayer and financial support team members in our September newsletter.
However, we did not publicly change our name until January 2006. At that point Newsletters changed and our Website changed to where we are today.
In 1988 our YWAM ministry focused upon a world-wide Torch Run project called “Target 2000 Great Commission Torch Run” and Twila Paris wrote and recorded a song for the project called “Carry the Light” which became our theme song not only for the entire project, but also for our ministry.
Soon our personal ministry name carried the banner “Carrying THE Light.” That first time using that name came in June 1989.
For history sake …and a little fun here is a look at the evolution of our ministry logo through the years:
In 1988 we adopted the YWAM logo of those days as we were in the early years of serving with the Salem, Oregon campus.
This logo above actually was our first dating back to 1982 when we first began dreaming of a ministry career. We were involved with YWAM and its Mercy Ship the “Anastasis” as church coordinators in the effort to bring the ship to Portland to load donations of all kinds. At that time we also had begun talking about beginning a racing ministry like we do today with MRO (Motor Racing Outreach) and visited Portland International Raceway to talk with some drivers including the legendary 5 time Champion Al Holbert competing with the IMSA Camel GT Series. The name came from Revelation 22:16.
*During our YWAM career the official logo changed. In 1999 as the century ended a new YWAM logo moved YWAM into the 2000’s and beyond:
In June 1989 we began transitioning to our own “Carrying THE Light” logo and ministry identity. It began as simply a nice font headlining our newsletters and evolved into the below style:
This logo was used until November 2005 when the first idea of today’s was introduced as follows:
However that image above was only used a few times while we met with our Board of Directors and prayed about the logo.
This above logo took the place of the first experimental logo and ran as the header on newsletters and our website through March 2008. We took the main logo and used it as our ministry logo and on our shirts as below:
In October 2009 the Lord was already speaking to us about a logo variation that took all three ministries into one that could represent who we are and what we do with each ministry hat, whether it be YWAM, MRO, or BCFM. Personally, I (Bob) struggled many nights with the logo that I felt God had pointed me too. He had woke me out of a sound sleep one night and showed me the design clearly. To me, it seemed that it simply involved too much racing ministry and not enough YWAM or local church involvement.
Our Board of Directors had already voted in the new logo for 2010 and I was still struggling when in my quiet time with the Lord, He spoke to me laying out scriptural reasons for the design. Using the Apostle Paul’s writings about the various “races” we find ourselves involved in during our lifetime. I was taken to 1 Corinthians 9:23 – 25, Galatians 5:6 -8, Philippians 2:16, 2 Timothy 4:6 (in the Message version of the Bible), and Hebrews 12:1 – 3 among a few others.
As 2011 arrived, once again we feel the Lord has moved our hearts toward a new ministry logo. Why? Well, I guess we will all see as the future plays out. This has definitely been an interesting progression! Here is the 2011 …and beyond logo:
Today, we are still focused on our role as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the eternal “Checkered Flag” in each person’s life. That flag goes “Beyond” all the others that may define our career and goals in this life, however, they all will only rust and tarnish before they fall victim to the incredible plan God has in store for us in eternity thereby making our final checkered flag in life as we cross into eternity the all important one.
What Checkered Flag are you looking for today?