Bobby Haley has a problem.

The Easley man may be retired, but from his schedule you would not know it.

Bobby Haley was once the minister of education for Pickens First Baptist Church. Once he retired, he and his wife Sylvia started looking for a new church home.

“We would have loved to have stayed at Pickens First Baptist,” Haley said. “We love the people there. But it has been my experience that when a minister retires, it is best to move on to another church. That way whoever replaces you won’t feel that you are always looking over their shoulder.”

It didn’t take long before the Haleys decided to make Berea First Baptist their new church home.

“I liked the minister here, and Sylvia wanted to be part of that singing tree,” Haley said, referring to Berea First Baptist’s annual Singing Christmas Tree presentation.

Early into their membership at Berea First Baptist, Haley was asked what kind of work he did in his ministry. He admitted that he had started the Kentucky Missions program at Spartanburg First Baptist in 1969. Forty-two years later, the church still sends mission teams to Kentucky every summer.

Later, at Pickens First Baptist, he continued his mission work in Kentucky, starting a missions program there. That group grew, and eventually became sponsored by the Pickens-Twelve Mile Baptist Association, with several churches sending missionaries on the trip.

Not surprisingly, Haley was asked to start a Kentucky Missions program at Berea First Baptist.

He jumped at the opportunity. He found four churches that needed help in Bell County, Kentucky. In addition, he found two government housing projects that would allow him to conduct a back yard Bible Club at their complexes.

The Berea Kentucky Missions team, much like the others Haley started, has continued to grow, not only in numbers but in spirit.

Last year was a bad year. Due to the poor economy, donations to the church were down sharply. After studying the financial figures, the church deacons decided the only responsible thing to do would be to call off all summer mission programs that required travel. Church members would instead concentrate on serving the Berea area.

While Haley did not like the decision, he could not argue with it. Many of the church’s more established programs suffered with Kentucky Missions.

This year, Berea First Baptist is again sending a team to Bell County, Kentucky.

That is where the problem comes. Three of the four churches that the Berea team had previously served would not be available this year.

For one church, it was the pastor’s decision.

Another church — Richland Chapel — had been forced to conduct Bible School on their own last year, and found the experience rewarding. They wanted to see if they could continue their independence.

“That’s really what you pray for, that these churches will eventually grow strong enough to minister to the children without our help,” Haley said. “You miss the people, and you still love them. But you know that God is working there, and it warms your heart to have once been a part of it.”

The third church — Victory Baptist Church — had a different mission team conduct Bible School last year. That team was from Columbia and led by a youth minister named Jeff Haley.

Yes, the son of Bobby and Sylvia.

So Bobby Haley had to find three replacement churches. He found only one — Pruden Baptist Church. Pruden is actually across the Tennessee border, but is still part of the Bell County Baptist Association. Haley had long been sending teams to Fonde Baptist Church, just a few miles down the road, just inside the Kentucky border.

But Bobby was unable to find a second church in the association that needed his help. All were either large enough to conduct their own Bible Schools, or already being served by another mission team from South Carolina.

“I’ve got nobody to blame but myself,” Haley mused. “Spartanburg First Baptist serves more than 20 churches up there, and I started that group. The Pickens group has nine or ten churches, and I started that group. Then Jeff’s group serves several other churches, and I guess I’m kind of responsible for him too.”

Of course Haley does not give up easily. He was familiar with a trailer park that was packed with children. He made arrangements to have a Backyard Bible Club there.

He’s still looking for the sixth project he needs. He is confident that God will provide a challenge.

“Oh, we’re going to do something,” Haley said. “We just don’t know what.”

One friend tried to comfort Haley.

“Bobby, don’t worry,” she said. “God is in control.”

Haley agrees. But he believes God expects his followers to work to find His will.

“I’ve always said that you should pray because God is in control, but you should work as if you were in control.”

So this summer for the 41st time, Haley will be serving God and the people of Kentucky with a special mission on a mountain.