Our Missions Conference 2026 encouraged our church members that the Gospel continues to spread across the world.

South Side Baptist invited three missionary families to our annual Missions Conference in October 2026. Braxtone Yansom from Papua New Guinea, Guanue Gbendah from Liberia and Brian Johnson from Lithuania all blessed us with fellowship, preaching and encouragement throughout the week. Even with challenges in travel arrangements for the Gbendahs, we were still able to start the Missions Conference on time and make the most of the entire week’s festivities!

Braxstone Yansom started Sunday Services with the Sunday School hour.

What an amazing testimony from the young Braxstone Yansom! A Papua New Guinea native, Braxstone grew up in the island’s jungle. He walked barefoot everywhere, ate lizards and frogs for a good meal, used banana leaves for plates and lived day-to-day with danger all around him. When his friends told him that there was a white man with yummy snacks, he was convinced to see a man who he believed was an ancestor reincarnate. What he found led him to Christ. His friends kept a secret very well; the white man missionary gave away cookies at every service. Braxstone hadn’t ever tasted anything so sweet, naturally he kept going to service for the cookies. Eventually, in 2008, he heard a sermon on Revelations and realized he was not prepared to meet the Living God. That week he surrendered to Jesus.

Since then, Braxstone married his lovely wife Brianna, they have a beautiful son together and they live in Fort Worth. They are on deputation to return to Papua New Guinea to share the Gospel. As of writing this blog post, they have acquired the land needed to build a permanent youth camp on the island. Praise God! You can follow their travels and progress on Facebook.

Guanue Gbendah once survived the firing squad and he’s still not afraid of it.

Guanue preached for us during Worship Service and told us about how Islam is invading Liberia at a horrifying rate. Once a Christian country, now it calls itself secular and allows for mosques to be built wherever they please. While Guanue is struggling for funding to put up a second church location, he becomes frustrated seeing Muslims having such an easy time gaining a foothold in the region. Guanue continues to fight against this religious invasion by refusing to teach the Quran in his school with 300 students. He only teaches the Bible, even though the law says he must have a class to introduce students to Mohammed’s teachings. His strength must come from God; any man facing certain death for his convictions leans on the Living God to protect him. May we pray for the Gbendahs continued safety and success in pushing back on Islam.

Brian Johnson concluded the first night with a well rounded sermon.

Lithuanian missionary Brian Johnson moved seamlessly from Philippians to Acts and back to Ephesians to tie in the Church at Philippi. His strong stance on support for missionaries comes from his 28 years on the field! It’s taken so long for him to gain respect and trust from those he serves in eastern Europe. Listening to his interview, talking with him in person and seeing the changes he has produced in the region shows his vast experience and patience. God moves through him and guides his steps. Even from the time he spun the globe in his room and landed on Lithuania, a country he never once heard of. God was using him mightily.

Church members fellowshipped over food all week prior to special presentations.

All three of the invited missionaries had their own weeknight to speak. Brother Gbendah spoke first on Monday after a meal of pulled pork, beans and chips. Brother Johnson treated us on Tuesday once we had our fill of homemade lasgna and fresh baked rolls. Brother Yansom concluded our conference on Wednesday as the perfect dessert to our chicken enchiladas, rice and refried beans. South Side thanks all of the volunteers that helped make the meals, organization and clean up possible! It’s such a blessing to be able to come straight from work, be fed and then sit to listen to the unbelievable testimonies of each missionary.

Did you miss our Missions Conference 2026? Rewatch the sermons on YouTube.

Sunday School – Braxstone Yansom

Sunday Worship Service – Guanue Gbendah

Sunday Evening Service – Brian Johnson

Monday Special – Guanue Gbendah

Tuesday Special – Brian Johnson

Wednesday Conclusion – Braxstone Yansom

Were you looking for more of a deep dive? Sweet! We interviewed each missionary for about two hours each. You can find their testimonies and stories on our Disciples in Dialogue page.