In the courtyard of a drab, colorless orphanage in Chișinău, Moldova, children flocked to the tall, lanky lady with perfectly coiffed, snow-white hair whose turquoise jacket stood out as she picked up each child to give them a hug. The children did not know the woman had been wearing the same clothes for three days because her luggage did not arrive at the same time she did at the Chișinău International Airport. And, the woman who joyfully hugged each child and told them Jesus loved them and God had a plan for their lives did not care that her luggage had not arrived.
One of the lasting memories I have of Bobbye Rankin (1944-2023) is of our second mission trip to Moldova in May 2012. Though retired from full time missions vocation, Bobbye was not retired from who she was at heart – a woman who deeply loved the Lord and was an ambassador for Christ.
Missionary, Teacher, Prayer Warrior
Bobbye served as a missionary with the International Mission Board (IMB) from the late 1960s until her husband, Jerry, was elected president of the then-Foreign Mission Board in June 1993. When Jerry retired in 2010, he and Bobbye had served almost 40 years taking the Gospel to the nations. The Rankins, who began their missionary tenure in Indonesia, also served in Thailand, Singapore, and India.
Named “Bobbye” when her older sister Bettye first met who she thought was to be a baby brother, Bobbye Simmons grew up in Fair River, Mississippi, and graduated as her high school valedictorian. She was called to be a missionary at a young age through Girls in Action in her local church. During her lifetime, she said many times she could not fathom the amount of lostness the world over as people did not know the name of Jesus. From a young age she knew the Lord was calling her to be a missionary and share the Gospel with those who were living in darkness. Bobbye had a gift for evangelism and she could easily and quickly engage women, men, and children with the Gospel. An extrovert of extroverts, she could build quick rapport with people of all ages. She genuinely and sincerely cared about people.
While a student at Mississippi College, Bobbye met Jerry Rankin, who had also been called to serve as a missionary. During their almost 57 years of marriage, Bobbye and Jerry served around the world taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. While she had a heart for missions and a gift for evangelism, Bobbye was an excellent Bible teacher and a true prayer warrior. She sincerely took God’s Word to heart, as she had almost all the Psalms memorized and could quote chapter and verse easily. God’s Word guided not only her prayers, but also how she encouraged other people.
Bobbye raised their two children, Lori and Russ, on the mission field and cultivated in each a heart for the Lord, the Gospel, and the lost. This has been handed down through the generations of the Rankin family. Bobbye was faithful as a Gospel witness as she served on the mission field.
However, it was Bobbye’s Christ-like character that influenced people who did not know the Lord, missionaries who served around the world, and others who knew her through God-ordained circumstances. Kindness easily describes Bobbye–she was kind to everyone. Quick with a smile and a hello, her kindness was not simple Southern friendliness, but a quality rooted in the love of Christ that was evident to everyone around her, whether stranger or friend.
When you were around Bobbye you left wanting to love the Lord more, pray more, and memorize Scripture. Her influence was not one of overt or subtle piousness, but of gentle humility as she was simply herself around people. However, her godliness was so apparent it was not off-putting, but left you wanting to have Christ reflected the same way in your own life.
Bobbye was faithful to proclaim the Gospel and disciple women around the world, but this did not stop when her husband retired and they returned to their native Mississippi. Bobbye often had college students, many representing nations around the world, in her home for meals and discipleship. She saw this as an opportunity to continue reaching the nations where the Lord had placed her.
Lessons from the Babushka
While many missionaries testify to the influence Bobbye had on their lives during missionary field training or while on the mission field, I knew her differently. I first met Bobbye in 2009 when I was serving North Carolina Baptists, but I got to know her in 2011 when she and I, along with several members of our state convention staff, traveled to Moldova to launch a partnership between NC Baptists and the Baptist Union of Moldova.
For a week, Bobbye, along with our dear mutual friend, the late Pam Blume, and I traveled hundreds of miles around that small European country ministering to local church pastors’ wives. The days were long and the nights were short, but the joy was evident, mostly because Bobbye brought it. She was an excellent Bible teacher, but also someone who could minister to fellow ministers’ wives, and was quick with a laugh. For example, she always taught last and she was the senior most individual among the three of us. During the first time of teaching, she stood in front of the Russian-speaking Moldovans and said, “You have heard from the two younger women on our team; you will now hear from the Babushka,” which is Russian for “grandmother.” The name stuck–I never called her Bobbye; I always called her Babushka.
There are many things Bobbye taught those around her. Among the lessons she modeled in her life, four stand out:
The compassion of Christ is important. On our second mission trip to Moldova in May 2012, we spent a day at a Moldovan women’s prison. We surrendered our American passports at the prison gate and spent the morning sharing the Gospel and teaching women who were incarcerated for crimes ranging from theft to murder. However, we were told there were about a dozen women who were believers who would like to talk with us. We gathered with them in a small room and through a translator prayed with them and sang “Amazing Grace” in the heart languages of our choice. As we were leaving the prison, we were walking down a long flight of white concrete stairs outside the prison building. Next to me I heard someone sobbing uncontrollably – it was Bobbye. I remember she said, “I need a hug!” and reached out and gave me a hug. She was weeping over the imprisonment of the Christian women and the hard road they had for the Gospel in the prison.
Everything should be taken to the Lord in prayer. Bobbye was a prayer warrior. She took absolutely everything to the Lord in prayer. She knew when the Lord said to cast all of our cares and concerns on Him because He cares for us, He meant it and she did it. Bobbye interceded for so many people and her day-to-day lifestyle reflected a life of one who was in constant communication with her Heavenly Father. She sincerely sought the Lord in everything.
God’s Word is a treasure to be read and memorized. Bobbye loved the Word of God. She studied God’s Word, taught God’s Word, and memorized God’s Word. She had more Scripture memorized than anyone I have ever met and when she prayed, she prayed Scripture. When she encouraged people, she encouraged with the truth of the Bible. However, she never got past memorizing the Lord’s Word. One very clear memory is one morning when Bobbye had come for a visit. She was in the guest room and I was preparing breakfast. When I looked into the room to let her know it was time to eat, she was at the library table with her Bible open and journal out and she was memorizing Scripture. She was in her late 60s at the time, but that image is indelibly marked in my mind.
Laughter is a lot of fun. While Bobbye was a godly lady, she was also very witty and a lot of fun. I do not think of her without a giggle and a smile. While she was one of my disciplers and taught me the deep things of God, almost all of my memories of her include laughter. Her favorite part of the description of the Proverbs 31 woman came from verse 25, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.”
Bobbye Rankin smiled at the future and she taught many of us to do the same.
