Bond, Frank Starr (1877‒1924)

Frank Starr Bond and his brother Walter were the first two missionaries who brought the Adventist message to Spain.

Early Years and Education

Bond was born in the United States into a large Californian family with eleven siblings. He studied and graduated in theology in 1899 from Healdsbourg College (now Pacific Union College).¹

Ministry

At a camp meeting held in Fresno in October 1902, the president of the General Conference, Pastor Arthur G. Daniells, called on all those who were willing to preach the Adventist message in new territories. Bond and his brother Walter volunteered.

As they had worked among Hispanics in Arizona and Nevada and had some knowledge of their language, it was proposed that they should preach the Adventist message in Spain for the first time.² They arrived in Barcelona on June 22, 1903; Frank was 27 years old.³ They moved to the city of Sabadell, where they established a school. Missionary work, colporteur ministry, and public lectures soon bore fruit, and three people were baptized on June 28, 1904.⁴ In 1905, Frank fell ill with smallpox and had to return to the United States. He returned to Spain in 1906, now married to Martha M. Farnsworth.⁵

In 1907 Bond was ordained to the ministry. In 1908 he moved to the province of Teruel, where he baptized several families the following year. Their descendants would later become pastors (Badenas, Sangüesa, Iserte). In 1912 the first two churches in Spain were established, the first in Barcelona and the second in Jérica. In 1915, while in eastern Spain, Frank and Martha had their first daughter, Alicia Ester. Two years later, their son Richard William was born.

Later Years

Bond became the second president of the Spanish Mission and worked in Spain until 1923, when, exhausted from work and sick, he returned to the United States.⁶ After a life of service, which included pastoring and evangelizing in Castellón, Madrid, Teruel, and Valencia, he died in Fresno, California on April 25, 1924.

Sources

López, José. “Primeros pasos misioneros en España,” Revista Adventista Española, September 1978.

Navarro, Juan. “España abierta al mensaje adventista.” Revista Adventista Española, September 1978.

Tejel, Andrés. “Los pastores Bond.” Revista Adventista Española, September 1978.

Valls, Jonathan, ed. Compartiendo la esperanza, Cien años de adventismo del séptimo día en España. Madrid: Safeliz, 2003.

Notes

1. Jonathan Valls, ed., Compartiendo la esperanza, Cien años de adventismo del séptimo día en España (Madrid: Safeliz, 2003), 38.↩

2. Juan Navarro, “España abierta al mensaje adventista,” Revista Adventista Española, September 1978, 9.↩

3. José López, “Primeros pasos misioneros en España,” Revista Adventista Española, September 1978, 12.↩

4. Valls, 45.↩

5. Andrés Tejel, “Los pastores Bond,” Revista Adventista Española, September 1978, 19.↩

6. Valls, 48.↩