GlobalROAR is a blending of the former GSMA training and sending model and the strategic database of Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse.

From 1985-2007 an association of approximately 75 local churches united under the mission model of Global Strategy Mission Association (GSMA), the mission training and sending arm of the Gulf States Pastors Fellowship. Their offices were located on the campus of Reserve Christian Church in Reserve, LA, now LifeHouse Church.

Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse (AAPC) was birthed in 1989 in Pasadena, CA, and then relocated in Colorado Springs with the offices of AD2000 and Beyond. From 2001 – 2005 their offices were at The Bible League in Crete, IL. AAPC is now based at the Living Stones Church campus in Crown Point, IN.

History of Global Strategy Mission Association

The Birth
In 1982 Pastors Jim Clark (New Roads, LA), Rod Aguillard (Reserve, LA), Ed Bledsoe (Gonzales, LA), and Eddie Pousson (Reserve Christian Church missionary, Reserve, LA) met together to formulate a mission vision for the Gulf States Pastors Fellowship. That night, Gulf States Missions Agency (G.S.M.A.) was birthed. That same night, M.T.I. (Minister’s Training Institute), which would become the hallmark ministry of Jim Clark, was established as the training arm for all missionary and ministry candidates.

Rod Aguillard became the lead presbyter of GSMA in 1985, and the office was moved to the campus of Reserve Christian Church in Reserve, LA. Dick Bashta, Associate Pastor of Reserve Christian Church, became the first Field Director of GSMA.

The Early Years - El Carmen, Mexico
Mission graduates of MTI spent nine months of apprentice training in El Carmen, Mexico, under the ministry of Victor and RuthAnn Martinez. Quarterly short-term mission trips with participants from many of the Gulf Coast churches assisted the work there, and many calls to full-time mission were birthed on those initial trips. Graduates of the apprenticeship stage of GSMA went on to serve in many other countries of the world.

Russia’s Operation 25 x 25
In 1991 as the doors of Russia opened to the outside world, GSMA launched Operation 25 x 25. In this mission movement, 25 short-term teams of 25 people (or more) were sent out to plant 25 churches in cities east of Moscow with populations of one million or more. In the summers of 1992 – 1994, 24 churches were started, with the 25^th church in Irkutsk (Siberia) Russia planted in the summer of 1995. Anthony and Jeannette Marquize directed the onsite logistics of the continual stream of teams coming from America, and Anthony became the first director of Global Strategy Christian Association (GSCA) – the Russian counterpart to GSMA.

As part of a massive mission team, over 100 workers remained in Russia to pastor these young churches. By the end of 1994 more than 1,500 people from 70 churches had participated inOperation 25 x25. Today there are over 75 churches in existence because of the sacrifices made by those who obeyed God’s call. GSCAEF (Global Strategy Christian Association Evangelical Fellowship) is now directed by Pastor Dema Blagoev and is based in Ivanovo, Russia. The Bible College which trains young Russian ministers and missionaries is under the direction of Pastor Zhenya in Irkutsk.

Asian Expansion
From 1995 – 1998 many short-term teams were sent into the Far East, and teachers were placed on university campuses in major cities. Through the faithful giving of many U.S. and international churches, one million dollars was raised to provide needed “books” for believers. At this time, GSMA missionaries were also laboring in the fields of Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Gulf States Bible College
In 1997 a building was purchased in Baker, LA for training pastors and mission candidates. MTI expanded to Gulf States Bible College (GSBC) where Tony Foster served as the Academic Dean and Dick Bashta served as Dean of Mission. Every spring, many young graduates were thrust out to serve in their local church, plant new churches, or begin their apprentice stage on the mission field.

Unreached People Group Focus – UPG153
From 1997 – 1999, as the placement of teachers continued in Asia, the mission focus of GSMA turned to Unreached People Groups (UPGs), and 153 of the largest groups of a million or more people were identified for church planting as part of UPG153 (John 21:11). Through networking with many partnering mission agencies and tracking provided by Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse (AAPC), the mission of UPG153 was completed in 2003.

A New Decade in Mission
In August of 1999 GSMA began partnering with Pastor Larry Stockstill of Bethany World Prayer Center and their Global 12 strategy of mission. Zone Leaders were established and began to work with selected national pastors for discipleship training and church planting. As Dick and Susie Bashta moved to Colorado Springs and began to direct the ministry of Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse, Jerry Claunch became the new director of GSMA. An office building was purchased in Gonzales, LA, to house the GSMA staff. Apostolic teams traveled to many regions of the world to hold Encounters and train national pastors. In October 2007 GSMA decentralized, and missionaries began to be serviced administratively by their own local churches.

In the 20+ years that GSMA was in existence, only heaven will tell of the glorious salvations, missionaries trained and sent, and church plants that are, to this day, still glowing and growing strong. All this was done, as the Moravian anthem so well declared, “To win for the Lamb that was slain, the reward of His suffering, the souls of men.” Our thanks to all who were a part of the GSMA legacy in any way – through praying, giving, or going!

History of the Adopt-A-People Movement

In the early 1970's, a strategic shift occurred in world mission as churches and mission agencies turned their focus toward the “all nations (ethne), kindreds, peoples, and tongues” that Rev. 5:9 and Rev. 7:9 speak of – a remnant from the16,000 people groups of the world. And in the decade of the 1980's, the concept of Unreached People Group (UPG) adoptions emerged.

In 1989, two mission organizations began to draw the attention of the Church to Unreached People Group adoptions:

The AD2000 & Beyond Movement spread the vision for the evangelization of the10/40 Window, a region first identified by the movement's International Director, Luis Bush. The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north latitude where 95 percent of the world's least-evangelized peoples are found. The AD2000 prayer initiatives called "Praying Through the Window" mobilized over 30 million intercessors to pray for the 10/40 Window over several years.

Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse was also formed with offices located in Pasadena, CA at the U.S. Center for World Mission. AAPC began to act as a comprehensive tracking station to enable the Church to see remaining gaps in its forces as it worked to see the completion of the Great Commission (Matthew 24:14).

By 1993 AAPC had moved to Colorado Springs, and the first documented list of unreached peoples, "A Church for Every People," was released. In it, each people group in the world was identified by language or dialect and population where known. They were then graded in terms of response and exposure to the Gospel. A second category listed the resources available for ministry, such as the Bible or portions in the people group’s language, radio/television programming, the Jesus Film, etc.

By 1995, AAPC had registered over 1,300 adoptions by local churches or mission organizations working among a specific people group. To help with strategic prayer and awareness for Unreached Peoples, a team at Bethany World Prayer Center in Baker, LA, created 1,041 prayer profiles on 1,632 of the most unreached groups on earth. These were known as theJoshua Project Prayer Profiles, and was accomplished through the help of field missionaries and the sending of many short-term research teams to the field from Bethany World Prayer Center. Since that time the mission organization, Joshua Project, based in Colorado Springs, has expanded and updated these original Joshua Project profiles, giving the Church valuable information both on the reached and least-reached peoples of the earth.

In 1999, Dick Bashta, former Field Director of Global Strategy Mission Association (GSMA) located in Reserve, LA, became the Director of Adopt-A People Clearinghouse. AAPC shared office space with AD2000 and Beyond in Colorado Springs until early 2001 when it joined forces with the Bible League in Crete, IL. For the last five years AAPC has been based at Living Stones Church, Crown Point, IN.

Director Dick Bashta’s vision has always been to take the Adopt-A-People movement past research to mobilizing the Church for prayer, training, sending, and church planting in all of the remaining 6,600 Unreached People Groups. With the merging of AAPC into the newly formed mission organization, GlobalROAR, the strategic component of research and networking will compliment the placing of trained missionaries in least-reached areas of the world.