Edmond Boxley Moses, 1930-2023 . IMB Photo

Edmond “Ed” Boxley Moses, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Zimbabwe and South Africa, died Jan. 13, 2023. He was 92.  

He graduated from Orlando Senior High School in Orlando, Florida, and received the Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. 

After graduating, Ed served with the U.S. Navy for four years. He worked for 17 years as a pharmacist and store manager in his family’s business, Moses Rexall Drug Stores.  

In 1961, he married Mary Ann “Missy” Pugh.  

Both Ed’s mother and grandmother were missions advocates, and he would follow in their footsteps. During a missions emphasis at their church Ed and Missy felt called to missions. Ed went on a summer mission trip to Nigeria and Tanzania in 1968, where he served in a hospital and visited others.  

In 1969, the International Mission Board appointed Ed and Missy missionaries to Zimbabwe.  

He served as the pharmacist and hospital administrator at Sanyati Baptist Hospital in Zimbabwe. Ed served as an area evangelist advisor for churches in the country and stayed busy during the summers with revivals. He also served as mission chairman for the area. 

The Moseses served during a tense and at times, violent era in Zimbabwe when racial and political struggles created unrest. During their years of service, they faced the possibility of a racial war, tribal war or an invasion by terrorists. 

In a newsletter, they wrote, “We cannot leave at the present time simply because God has not led us in this direction. We feel that we will be sensitive to His calling when that time arrives. We have the daily assurance that He wants us right here for now and we are busy making the most of our precious time.” 

War did break out. In 1978, the Moseses listened to the Lord’s call to move to South Africa, where they served in Bophuthatswana, which, at the time, was a sovereign nation but is now part of South Africa. Ed served in the pharmacy at Jubilee Hospital, and he regularly shared the gospel with patients in the hospital ward and made home visits. He also preached and counseled 200 men at a technical college. Ed wrote and published booklets and tracts in the local language.  

The Moseses served refugees from Mozambique who crossed the border into South Africa. At the Xurhani Baptist Center, they served 28 refugee camps and squatter villages where 6,000 people lived. Ed was involved in bi-monthly food distributions and preached the gospel. They encountered people who had not eaten in days, and he wrote they were both physically and spiritually hungry. 

“Now is the opportune moment to reach the Mozambiquan refugees for Jesus Christ. They are extremely receptive in their destitute state. We are overjoyed to be able to gather this precious harvest,” the Moseses wrote. 

Ed and Missy later moved back to Zimbabwe and planted a church among Zimbabwean refugees. In a newsletter, they wrote excitedly that, on one Sunday, the entire church was baptized.  

“After our worship service, with much singing and dancing, and with tears in the eyes of this missionary, we watched 63 refugees being baptized. Most of them wore very tattered and torn clothing, their radiant smiles and overflowing hearts gave a strong testimony to their new birth and to God’s great transforming power,” they wrote in a newsletter. 

In addition to church planting, the Moseses were also involved in agricultural self-help projects in Zimbabwe. 

The Moseses retired after 25 years of service.  

Ed is preceded in death by Missy, his wife of 59 years, and his son, Chip Moses.   

He is survived by his daughters, Joy Baxley (John), and Mary Ann Moses; daughter-in-law, Lori Moses; and five grandchildren. 

 A funeral service was held Jan. 21, at Moses Chapel in Downtown Baptist Church Orlando. 

Donations in his memory may be made to the Lottie Moon Offering, IMB, 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230, or online at Generosity Resource Center – IMB Generosity. 

Read an obituary here.