The Bond Family: Ruthie, Moriah Fitzgerald, Abi, Javan, Mark, Rachel, Ben Fitzgerald, Valerie, and Kayden

Employee Spotlight: Mark Bond

On May 22, 2011, an F5 tornado ripped through Joplin, Mo., leaving 158 people dead and more than a thousand injured. Just two miles north of the storm’s path, Mark Bond was a staff member of a local church.

For the next four months, Mark’s role in production and technology became a hub for disaster relief, coordinating large supply loads ranging from bottled water to plywood.

Mark was humbled and changed by the experience as he walked into his home each evening, where his wife and children slept safely.

“I remember coming in and weeping from a mixture of appreciation and survivor’s guilt. It was a hard—yet touching—season that reshaped my heart,” he said. “Everyone came together, and the churches became one unified force.”

With 27 years spent in full-time ministry, Mark has a deep understanding of what it means to serve God both inside the church and in the everyday mission field.

After growing up in Macon, Mo., Mark attended Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Mo. His dad, a full-time pastor, also served there as an adjunct professor.

Mark knew almost everyone on campus—except one shy girl named Rachel. Around the same time Mark noticed her, their families became friends after sharing a meal at freshman orientation.

Mark and Rachel married two years later and eventually had three children—Ruthie, Moriah, and Javan.

When their youngest was off to school, Rachel also began working in a special education classroom. Through that experience, they were reminded of a long-ago whisper from God. As far back as their dating years, adoption had been on their hearts.

“Rachel came home and asked for prayer for a boy named Kayden because ‘something wasn’t right in his world,’” Mark said. “So, we began praying for him.”

A short time later, Rachel learned Kayden had been removed from his foster home and needed a safe place to go for the weekend. She and Mark quickly agreed to bring him home, and that weekend turned into a year and a half—until Kayden was reunified with his family.

Deeply touched by the experience, the Bond family continued fostering, embracing it as a family ministry.

“We wanted to model that ministry is something you live out daily,” Mark said. “We had family meetings before anyone new came into our home. Sometimes the kids even had their own meetings, then came to us and said, ‘We think it’s time to bring another kid in.’”

A change in ministry relocated the Bonds to Indiana. It was there that they learned Kayden had returned to foster care. When his caseworker asked what he wanted most, Kayden’s answer was immediate: he wanted to live with “Mr. Mark and Ms. Rachel forever.” In ways that only God can do, Kayden got his wish and was welcomed into the Bond family through adoption.

But God wasn’t finished. When sisters Valerie and Abigail were placed with them, the Bonds knew the girls were meant to stay. Through adoption, their family grew by two more.

During the pandemic, the family of eight relocated from Indiana to Quincy, Ill., to serve a local church. Toward the end of 2024, the church underwent a staffing restructuring, and Mark learned that his position would need to be eliminated. Thankful the church gave him ample notice to prepare, Mark and Rachel began considering what might be next.

Rachel had recently interviewed for a position at Benson Financial Group and was asked to bring Mark along for a second meeting.

Although Rachel had essentially been offered the job, the couple was honest about their uncertainty regarding their future. BFG leadership was understanding—and as they learned more about Mark’s background, they recognized his skills aligned with a needed paraplanner role.

In a turn of events, Mark accepted the position, and they decided for Rachel to stay home.

Mark now splits his time between the Hannibal and Quincy offices, working behind the scenes with a major focus on planning and technology—along with countless other tasks.

Mark is grateful for how the Lord was ahead of his story and brought him to the amazing place that is BFG.

“After spending more than half my life in church work, I am thankful for the opportunity to be a Christ-follower in a ‘secular’ industry,” he said. “Real ministry can absolutely flourish outside the walls of a church building.”

Mark leans on this verse:

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:10

Mark reflected, “As the provider, I can be task-driven, and this reminds me that His pleasure doesn’t come from me checking all the boxes. I always want to work hard and bring Him glory in all I do, but His true pleasure is that I place my hope in Him.”