In the 1970's Milan Bible Church invited UFM International (UFM stands for Unevangelized Fields Mission) to provide spiritual oversight for our church's pastoral ministry.  UFM was beginning to plant churches in Milan and was led by a veteran Italian missionaries, Ray and Lois Whitlock.  Since that time MBC has been pastored on a part-time basis by a succession of UFM Missionaries including Ray Whitlock, Ron Fisher, Al Nucciarone, Tom Jobe, and Jim McMahan. 

In 1998, UFM determined that MBC needed a full time pastor and asked Jim Kutnow, the present pastor, and his wife, Lynda, to consider serving in Milan with UFM in this capacity (as of January, 2005, UFM changed its name to CrossWorld). While MBC functions independently under its own board of elders, our church continue to maintain close ties with CrossWorld.

CrossWorld is a faith mission, based in the USA and Canada, and is committed to the local church as God's primary instrument for reaching the world.  We consider it a privilege to partner with individuals and churches to whom we are accountable for shared resources.  We are a vision-driven, ministry-oriented organization. This means that the overall vision is interpreted and propelled at the local level as missionaries are responsible for strategic priorities in their local context. The distinctives of CrossWorld are best represented by our core values which emerge from our 70-year history of working on five continents of the world:
God-centered - Ministry flows out of an intimate
   relationship with God.
Theology based - Our doctrinal statement demonstrates
   our commitment to the historic fundamentals of the  
   Christian faith, to a biblically based system of doctrine, to
   the importance of the local church and to world
   evangelization.
Prayer committed - Prayer is the most fundamental
   demonstration of our worship.
Family atmosphere - We emphasize ministry together as
   a mission family.
Quality emphasis - Personal and corporate excellence is
   our standard.
Ethical integrity - Personal, financial and administrative
   integrity and accountability is a commitment.
Team focus - Work relationships are based on teamwork
   and a common vision.
In brief, the purpose of CrossWorld is to help churches start new churches by evangelizing the unreached, discipling believers and training leaders. For more information please check out the CrossWorld web site. 
♦Every day UFM missionaries take up their cross and
  follow God's call to the nations. 
♦Every day, UFM missionaries cross the world to speak
  the Good News.
♦Every day, lives around the world are changed by the
  message of the cross of Christ.
Feel free to visit CrossWorld's website directly:  www.crossworld.org