Tom Raper Foundation INC.
Committed to strengthening the Lord’s work by partnering with evangelistic efforts worldwide.
TOM RAPER FOUNDATION INC. HAS BEEN ABLE TO BE A PART OF:
FOREIGN MISSIONS
Providing a grant for a vehicle for church-planters to further the Gospel’s reach in Zambia and throughout the region.
LAND DONATION
Gifting the funds to purchase farm land to a ministry that then could produce pure water, grow food and raise livestock. This created an educational environment and job-training opportunities on the mission field, enabling local natives to have an occupation which results in them giving back to the Lord's work.
EVANGELISTIC EFFORTS
Providing funds for three Evangelist American Military Rallies for the furtherance of the Gospel resulting in hundreds of people being saved.
WHEN GOSPEL-CENTERED PROJECTS NEED HELP, THAT'S WHERE WE STEP IN.
Our Mission Statement
Our mission is to assist in the funding of Biblically-based projects for the furtherance of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Join the Tom Raper Foundation INC. today in giving HOPE to the next generation as THEY BRIDGE THE GAP with FRIENDSHIP and the GOSPEL.
Our President
Suzanne Raper
President & Board Member
Suzanne was born on a Saturday, January 30, 1943. She lived the first 25 years of her life in the inner city of Indianapolis, Indiana. She was saved as a young girl at Victory Baptist Church in Indianapolis and was baptized shortly thereafter. After high school graduation, Suzanne worked 7 years as a Chair Side Dental Assistant at Indiana University School of Dentistry in the Pedodonics Department. She met Tom Raper when she was sixteen and they were married 9 years later, on August 4, 1968. They lived in Richmond, Indiana, population 30,000, where they started Tom Raper RVs. The Lord blessed their business greatly and they grew to be the largest recreational vehicle dealer in the world.
Through Tom Raper RVs, Tom acquired much influence with the Lord’s help, which they used to reach many people with the Gospel. In 1981, they started the Tom Raper Foundation to help “strengthen churches, ministries, Christian organizations and mission work.” In the 1990s, they began hosting annual Tom Raper Rallies. Through these rallies, thousands of people were invited to Richmond, Indiana, to spend a weekend at the county fairgrounds. Along with the great food and fellowship, the Rapers invited everyone to a “church service on Sunday to hear the Gospel.” God blessed these services and they were able to see thousands of souls trust Christ as their savior.
Tom and Suzanne served the Lord through traveling throughout the Midwest, preaching and ministering to churches for 46 years. On April 14, 2015, Tom Raper went home to be with the Lord. Suzanne resides during the winter months in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and during the summer in Richmond, Indiana, where she can be close to her family.
Suzanne continues with the Tom Raper Foundation and presides as President.
Suzanne connects with woman across the country through motivational speaking in churches, colleges and ladies’ meetings. Her passion is to build friendships and train women in hospitality, so that they may make an impact on the next generation. She believes to be a truly effective soul winner, you must first win people to yourself and then win them to the Lord and share the Gospel.
Board Members
John Collier
Vice President
About John Collier
Pastor Collier, affectionately known as "Preacher" and known as one of the best preachers in Central Texas, comes by those honorary titles from being on the road in evangelism for many years. Also, his pulpit experience is surpassed by few. Pastor Collier has been in the ministry over 47 years, has served as both Youth Pastor and Pastor, and has been on staff at Parkview Baptist Church of Waco since 1982.
Winn, his son, is married and pastors in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Vonda, his daughter, is married and is an elementary school teacher in Michigan. Winn and Vonda have 2 children each. Virginia, Preacher’s wife of 49 years, passed away in 2015 after a long battle with cancer.
Charles Keen
Board Member
About Charles Keen
Charles F. Keen: Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church/Milford Ohio. Founding Pastor of Bearing Precious Seed and First Bible International.
Dr. Keen was born the first time in Newton, West Virginia, December 1, 1939. He was born again in Akron, Ohio, on the second Sunday of October 1958, at the Akron Baptist Temple under the ministry of Dr. Dallas Billington. He was first introduced to the church through the bus ministry as an eight-year old boy and as young adults, his future wife Mary and he were saved. They moved to Pontiac, Michigan, to enroll in Midwestern Baptist College and joined Emmanuel Baptist Church where Dr. Tom Malone was both president and pastor.
At MBC, Dr. Keen completed his course work and graduated magna cum laude. Upon graduation in 1964, they moved to Milford, Ohio, where he spent thirty-five years as pastor of the First Baptist Church. The ministry, by the grace of God, was very fruitful with the church growing in significant proportions.
In 1973, God used Dr. Don Frazier to put in the hearts of three men, Drs. Caudill, Demarest and Keen, to start the Bearing Precious Seed (BPS) ministry. In 1999, God began to move in Dr. Keen’s heart to start First Bible International (FBI), so he resigned as pastor of First Baptist Church and FBI was born with the express purpose of getting the Bible to the billions of Bible-less peoples in the unreached people groups of the world.
Keen serves on the adjunct faculty at The Crown College in Powell, Tennessee. The College conferred on him a Doctor of Divinity degree in 2010.
The Keens have been married 56 years and have four children; all of them love God and serve the Lord. They also have sixteen grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren.
Romans 15:20-21 is his life verse: 20 “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: 21 But as it is written, 'To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.'"
Dr. Keen has authored three books, Thinking Outside the Box, He Is Worthy, and They Are Still Waiting. He is founding editor of the Unpublished Word Journal, the official publication of FBI, and numerous published articles.
Bill Giallourakis
Board Member
Tom Odom
Secretary
About Tom Odom
Pastor Tom Odom has been serving the Lord in full-time ministry since 1999. God has used his ministry to influence and lead people into a growing relationship with Christ. He has been privileged to serve as the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Southwest Broward since March of 2008. First Baptist is a thriving church with a vision for reaching their community and the regions beyond with the gospel. Pastor Odom and his wife Carolyn married in 1999 and have four wonderful children: David, Victoria, Madelyn, and Nathan.
In 2011, First Baptist Academy was founded and currently serves many families in the South Florida community. Under Pastor Odom’s leadership, the school began to train the next generation for the cause of Christ.
Tim Schelling
Treasurer
About Tim Schelling
Dr. Tim Schelling and his wife Vicki have been diligently and faithfully serving in the ministry for 47 years! Pastor Schelling began pastoring his first church at 19, Second Baptist Church in Chatsworth, Georgia. Second Baptist is a branch church of Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, under the leadership of Dr. Lee Roberson.
With the help of Pastor Lew Davis and the folks at Tri-County Baptist Church, West Chester, Ohio, Pastor Schelling planted Northern Kentucky Baptist Church on May 4, 1980. He has served on the board of Shepherd’s Bethel Mission.
Pastor Schelling and his wife Vicki have been married for 42 years and have three grown children: Andy, Kelly, and Jessica.
