Bitner Henry Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency that works to secure insurance coverage for mission-sending programs in North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Washington D.C., and other states. Derek Gard is a former missionary who now works to insure missionary and mission-focused organizations. He has focused on the insurance program for mission-sending organizations.

With fourteen years of mission-sending and insurance experience, Derek Gard is Bitner Henry’s Mission-Sending Organization (or MSO) agent. He works across the country, supporting missions organizations- both small and large- across the country and churches in Catawba County and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Before turning to insurance, Derek Gard worked in the Dominican Republic for four years with his family to help support mission work. While working, he noticed the need for insurance that could protect unique ministries, such as those sending groups on missions. Upon his return to the States, when approached by people at his church who worked in Brotherhood’s church and missions’ insurance, Derek decided to work through insurance to help organizations find the needed insurance protections on the mission field. Because the MSO experience is so unique to each organization, organizations have to find agents who can customize their insurance to fit their unique needs. No mission is going to be the same, and that means that the insurance will need to be different, too.

Some of the most common insurance needs that Derek sees include general liability, abuse and misconduct, and workers’ compensation insurances, as well as officer and board insurance. However, each MSO has a unique slate of insurance that they need. Because MSO insurance needs to be thorough, organizations looking for insurance should be looking for a specialist.

“I think it’s just a heart for them and an understanding and a desire to want to serve them… we want to be profitable and do all those things, but it’s deeper than that. I’ve given the majority of my adult life to the mission-sending community,” Derek says.

As of January 2025, Bitner Henry Insurance Group insures organizations such as Africa Inland Mission International in Peachtree City and Global Ministries of the UMC and TMS Global in Atlanta.

What should MSOs consider when deciding what agency or agent to work with?  After considering their unique needs, for Derek, it’s about approaching insurance from a Christian, Godly, and missions-oriented mindset.

“More than anything, having a broker or an agent that understands the market specific to that type of ministry is what I would try to convey to them,” Derek says. “And that, you know, you can go out and get insurance a lot of different places… but if something happens, with Brotherhood and Bitner-Henry Insurance Group, I may not know what work comp adjuster is going to get assigned to that claim, but I can tell you that they love God.” If an organization ever has to use their insurance for a claim, Derek Gard takes comfort in the idea that Christians will be the ones handling it.

If you are a church in the area or a mission-sending organization and you have any questions, feel free to reach out and request a quote on our website. Together, we can empower your program and help the people you serve.

Further Reading

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