Africa
Jon Edwards | Togo
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Sterling, OH
Jon Edwards seemed to have it all: a nice car, a well-paying job as a self-employed computer consultant, and a rich church life. But he felt God was calling him to do more.
Jon talked with his pastor, and they both felt God was calling him to use his skills on the mission field. They started researching missions opportunities, and when they discovered ABWE’s need for computer technicians at the Hospital of Hope, Jon knew God was at work. Six months later, he was on a plane to northern Togo for a short-term mission trip.
For nearly a year, Jon worked side-by-side with Cristoph, a Togolese believer who was a technician for the new hospital’s computer systems. As the two became close friends, Jon learned of another need in Togo: church leadership training. While many people were being saved through the hospital’s ministry, there was a lack of trained leaders who could disciple and organize these new believers into healthy churches.
“If the church is going to expand, they need effective leaders, and these leaders need access to training,” said Jon.
When Jon returns to Togo, he will assist with the northern and southern hospitals’ technical needs, and he also hopes to set up a computer lab to bring Bible training to church leaders in northern Togo.
Jon & Michelle Archer | Togo
Lakeside Baptist Church, Salem, VA
Jon gravitated to missions early on, and in high school, he went on mission trips to Mexico and Vietnam. He remained very involved in his church and with missions throughout high school, but he struggled in college. His faith began to slip, and after a rough breakup, he spiraled and attempted to take his own life. Mercifully, a mentor stepped into his brokenness and began to disciple Jon. He showed him how to find God’s peace, which was missing from Jon’s life.
With newly strengthened faith, Jon went on a 12-week mission trip to the middle of the Sahara desert in Mali.
“The first day I was there the thermometer said 155 and they didn’t have air conditioning,” Jon said. “But I loved it.”
That trip truly opened his heart to missions. Jon was ready to go where God would lead him, but the doors to the mission field kept closing so he began pursuing his other passion: youth ministry.
Jon married Michelle and began ministering to youth and helping at risk kids. Together, they counseled kids and families through hard issues, and they had the opportunity to lead several youth mission trips. Then, last year, God made it clear that his youth ministry was coming to a close. Jon and Michelle wrestled with what to do next and both rediscovered their deep calling and desire for missions.
“We have a heart for national pastors and missionaries,” Jon said. “We want to come alongside them and help train, equip, and encourage them.”
Josh & Melissa Vroman | Togo
First Baptist Church of Afton, Afton, NY
While other kids were dreaming of becoming an astronaut or famous singer, Melissa dreamed of being a nurse in Africa.
“As a kid, I saw the Feed the Children programs on TV and I was glued to the screen. Seeing the unnecessary suffering wrenched my heart,” said Melissa. “I knew I needed to be where I was needed most, and I became a nurse so I could use those skills to help people.”
Melissa’s compassion for the children of Africa led her and Josh to adopt one of their five children from Ethiopia, but Melissa still felt called to do more. Then, Josh’s cousin, an ABWE missionary in Togo, presented to their church, and Melissa couldn’t sit still. She begged Josh to let them go visit his cousin, and eventually he conceded, in hopes that it would pacify Melissa’s urgings. But in one week, Josh was hooked.
“Josh is very even-tempered, even through really exciting things, but he lit up like a firecracker in Togo,” Melissa said.
Josh loved helping with the hospital’s construction. He felt the joy of working with his hands for God as opposed sitting behind the wheel of a truck for a paycheck, and in 2013, they returned for a 16-month stint. Josh helped finish building the hospital, and Melissa helped create a training program for Togolese nurse’s aids.
“We’re excited to get back and help run and maintain the hospital that we helped build,” Josh said.
Regan & Mellie Martin | South Africa
Winnetka Bible Church, Winnetka, IL
Mellie was four-months pregnant with their fifth child when Regan returned from a mission trip and said, “I think the Lord is calling us to South Africa."
A bad car accident in college brought about a spiritual revival in Regan’s life and his heart for missions grew. Then, he married Mellie, and together, they prayed for God to show them a mission field. But the timing never seemed right.
“I felt a readiness and willingness, but I was waiting for direction,” Regan said. “That came in the last three years.”
Regan had been teaching at a Christian school in Wisconsin, but moved to Chicago to step into an associate pastor role at a mission-minded church. One day, the lead pastor invited Regan on a mission trip to South Africa, and feeling the Lord’s leading, he went.
On the trip, Regan ministered with an older couple, and he was burdened by the question of who would continue their ministry after they retired. When he returned, he impassionedly shared his experience with his wife, but Mellie met Regan’s energy with exhaustion. She also felt called to missions, but they had five kids in six and a half years and Mellie was still trying to understand her role as mother and wife. She was hesitant about the idea of moving their family halfway around the world, so she prayed.
“This whole process has forced me to reexamine my heart,” Mellie said. “I realized I hadn’t been really trusting in the Lord and I had to readjust my focus. Through doing that, I’ve seen God faithfully lead and provide for us each step of the way.”
The following year, Mellie went with Regan back to South Africa, and God filled their hearts with love for the country and its people.
Alison Dominguez | The Gambia
West Cabarrus Church, Concord, NC
Alison was 30 years old when she found herself sitting in a church for just the third time in her life.
Alison had very little exposure to Christianity, but when she was struggling to rebuild after some significant life changes, her Christian neighbors embraced her. She leaned on them during the darkest period of her life, and when she mentioned being overwhelmed by housework she needed to do, her neighbors unexpectedly showed up to help.
“Why are you doing this?” Alison asked.
“This is God’s love for you,” they replied.
Alison soon accepted her neighbors’ invitation to church, and eventually was saved, baptized, and developed a desire to share God’s love with others. She was challenged by a sermon on the Great Commission and decided to use her skills as a physician assistant and her fluency in Spanish on a medical mission trip to Guatemala, where she discovered her love of sharing the gospel through medicine.
Several mission trips later, she knew God was calling her to do medical missions full time in an area of the world that would push her outside of her comfort zone. She prayed for direction and found the answers when she went on a short-term medical trip to The Gambia with ABWE.
“I fell in love with the people,” she said. “If I could have, I would have just stayed.”
When she returned home, Alison told her pastor she was ready to take the next step, and God has confirmed her calling each step of the way.
“There is no question The Gambia is where I’m supposed to be,” Alison said. “I know it’s not going to be easy, but I’m excited.”
Nathan & Lauren Bell| South Africa
Memorial Baptist Church, Columbus, OH
Nathan grew up in church, but never understood what it looked like to be a Christian in all aspects of life. He first got to see that on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic where the missionaries shared Christ’s love every day. Nathan felt convicted about his two-faced life, and after that trip, mentors at his church began discipling and pouring into him. Those experiences shaped him and gave him a heart for mentorship and discipleship. He felt called to help kids without Christ-like mentors.
Lauren also had a heart for kids, and through several mission trips, she felt called to teach abroad. Together, Nathan and Lauren went on a survey trip to South Africa to help work with the youth at a church plant. During that trip, they were also able visit different areas and ministries in the country, which led them to Hermanus.
“Hermanus is a city in desperate need of a Bible-believing church,” Nathan said. “A woman there has been praying for 30 years for a Baptist church, but the missionaries are just spread too thin to reach that area.”
Nathan and Lauren plan to help plant a church in Hermanus and minister to the youth in a nearby fishing village where kids have very few male role models since the men are often at sea.
“The culture in South Africa is very relational and so are we. We’re very much people people, so it felt like home,” Lauren said. “It was really hard to leave and we are excited to get back.”
Europe
Larry & Tricia Wilson | Europe
First Baptist Church, Willmar, MN
Ever since Larry and Tricia met at a Bible Study while attending community college, the gospel has been the center of their relationship. After they got married, they looked for opportunities to share their faith full time and joined a Bible translation ministry.
Larry spent the next 25 years serving as a vernacular media specialist, where he recorded translations of scripture in different languages for people who could not read. Although Larry and Tricia loved their ministry, they felt they were being called to a personal evangelism ministry. They began to investigate fields and opportunities and discovered ABWE.
“It’s just been a blessing to rest in God’s timing,” Larry said.
Larry and Tricia are praying about opportunities in Europe where they hope to use personal evangelism, discipleship, church restoration, and hospitality to share the light of the gospel in spiritually dark areas of Europe.
Ruth & Andy Bishop | Italy
Facebook: Andrew & Ruth Bishop in Ancona
Cascades Baptist Church, Jackson, MI
Ruth and Andy arrived on the mission field 28 years ago with the vision to make disciples of the Italian people, but God has challenged them to look beyond their vision for Italy to see His vision for the ends of the earth.
Ruth grew up as an MK in Algeria, but moved to southern France after her father was ousted from the country. Her new French school had a second language requirement so Ruth enrolled in Italian because of their proximity. Every night she would tune into Trans World Radio Italy to see how much she could understand, and while she thought she was learning the language, God was actually teaching her about the deep need there. After high school, she went to Bible school in Iowa to train to be a missionary in Italy and met Andy.
“I always felt burdened for missions in Europe,” said Andy. “It’s the continent where the gospel came to America, but it has become a very needy mission field.”
For the last two decades, Andy and Ruth have been leading a church in Ancona, a city on the eastern coast of Italy. Progress was slow for many years, and they wrestled with discouragement, but they were faithful to their call and built a small church of loyal members. Then a few years ago, a young man from Cameroon came into their lives.
He came to Ancona to study at the local university, and when he heard about a church run by other foreigners, he began attending. Then he began bringing friends with him, and they began bringing their friends.
“We felt God called us to make disciples of the Italian people, and then, we found ourselves leading a church where half of the people aren't Italian,” Andy said. “At first, we said, ‘God, this isn’t what you called us to do,’ but we realized if He brought them to us then He wants us to work with them.”
Today, the Bishops are seeing more people coming to Christ, and they are seeing those changed lives rippling out and bringing more and more people to Christ.
“We’ve got the world coming to us,” said Ruth. “There are so many things happening right now and we want to get back. We’re excited to see what God is going to do next.”
Cristian & Michelle Harlea | Romania
Calvary Baptist Church, Hannibal, MO
Ever since she was a little girl, Michelle wanted to follow her father’s footsteps into ministry, and she spent many summers on mission trips in different parts of the world. After graduating from college, Michelle was leading a children’s ministry when she went on a 10-day mission trip to Romania. She saw the hurt and devastation of the orphan children there, and she felt compelled to return and help them. When she got back to the States, she immediately called her boss and told her about this door God had opened. To her surprise, her boss said, “That’s amazing and perfect. I found your replacement while you were gone.”
God had made it clear, so Michelle broke her lease, sold her stuff, raised support, and in less than four months, she moved to Romania to serve full time. She began working with an orphan ministry, while serving one day a week at a church plant — where she met Cristian.
Cristian grew up in Bucharest in a Christian family during the communist time. He faced significant persecution, but had always let his classmates’ and professors’ ridicule roll off his back. But one day, his heart began to change and he started to feel a burden for his unsaved peers. He prayed for direction, and at the age of 17, he felt God calling him to be an evangelist.
“God put a burden on my heart to see my nation reached for His kingdom,” said Cristian. “There are so many villages in Romania that have no churches and no one sharing the gospel with them.”
He went to a poor area outside the capital and his heart broke for the destitute people there. He began taking his friends out to teach the children, and eventually they started the small church plant where he met Michelle.
Cristian came to America for the first time nine days before he married Michelle, and he has been here for six years, completing his Bible degree and starting their family. Now, Michelle and Cristian are looking forward to starting their ministry in Romania where they plan to plant more churches and train local leaders.
“We pray that God will use us to start a missions movement within Romania and beyond,” Cristian said.
Nahum O’Brien | Norway
Berean Baptist Church, Sciotoville, OH
While attending a Christian youth camp in junior high, Nahum felt the call to missions, but the widespread poverty and depravity he saw during his travels while in the Air Force caused him to question his call and his faith.
“When you go overseas and see these things, you realize the world is infected by sin,” said Nahum. “I became angry, pessimistic, and couldn't reconcile the problem of sin, pain, and death with a good God.”
Nahum fell into a self-serving lifestyle, but he soon hit rock bottom and realized his selfish way of life was unfulfilling. He was left with a heart full of questions, and he turned back to the only source of answers he knew: Jesus.
“The Scriptures say the world is the way it is because of sin — and the scary thing was that same sin existed in me,” said Nahum. “The deeper I grew in the knowledge of my own personal sin, the more important the grace of God became to me.”
With this realization, Nahum recommitted his life to Christ, and as his Air Force enlistment drew to a close, he decided to study God’s answer for the problem of sin. He studied at Liberty University before going on to seminary.
While finishing his seminary degree this past August, he learned about the significant challenges facing the gospel in post-Christian Europe. Nahum feels called to use his education and life experiences to share the reason for his newfound optimism in Norway.
“Their post-modern culture really connected with me,” said Nahum. “I really want to engage the Norwegian people with the gospel and share the hope that it has brought to my life.”
Latin America
Jessica Bell | Brazil
Evangel Baptist Church, Taylor, MI
Jessica was deeply impacted by God’s love at a young age, and when she was nine, she felt God calling her to missions. She prayed for direction, and God placed the country of Brazil on her heart — a country she knew nothing about.
Jessica told her parents, and together, they prayed. When her extremely protective parents felt at peace and supported her calling, Jessica knew it was further confirmation of God’s will for her life.
Jessica recently graduated from Bible college and is now pursuing missions whole-heartedly. She hopes to channel her love of kids into a ministry that works with hurting children.
“I thrive working with people who are hurting and needing. That’s my passion,” Jessica said. “God loves us so much and I want to go out and share that love with others.”
Chelsea Zeman | Nicaragua
Edgewater Baptist Church, Chicago, IL
In high school, Chelsea went on a short-term mission trip to serve in an orphanage in Mexico, and the trip opened her eyes to how God could use her to help others. She realized she wanted to use her life to serve people and began pursuing nursing.
During her sophomore year of nursing school, Chelsea’s professor invited her to join a medical research project that would take two trips a year to Nicaragua. She signed up, and while her first trip was only three days long, she completely fell in love with the work and the people. She went to Nicaragua many more times with the research project and spring-break medical mission trips.
“I was so happy to use my education to help people, but it dawned on me that we were only putting a Band-Aid on these people’s problems. They have spiritual problems that run deeper than their medical problems,” Chelsea said. “That’s when my path shifted from medical to missions.”
Chelsea is excited to use her medical skills to share the gospel and bring true healing to the people of Nicaragua.
“I’ve been there so much that Nicaragua feels like home,” Chelsea said. “I’m really looking forward to going home and being able to serve the people there.”
Bryan & Cari Surrett | Brazil
First Baptist Church, Waterville, MN
Cari grew up as a missionary kid in Brazil and was raised knowing the importance of mission work. After college and shortly after she met Bryan, Cari went to serve at the Amazon Baptist Hospital for one year. When she returned, they got married and started their family and their ministry. Life was good, but Cari’s heart continued to burn for missions in Brazil.
“For years, I kept asking when we were going to go to Brazil, but Bryan kept putting me off. He said maybe someday, but he didn’t feel like that’s where he was being called,” said Cari. “I was trying to be the Holy Spirit for him and it wasn’t working. So I finally just put it in God’s hands.”
Bryan was very involved in local ministry as an assistant pastor, but his thinking started to shift in 2010. While visiting Cari’s parents, who were still in Brazil and nearing retirement age, they met other missionaries in the area, who were also getting older and transitioning to different ministries.
“It seemed like everywhere we went we ran into a missionary who was retiring soon,” Bryan said. “We began
to pray that God would send new, younger missionaries to Brazil to replace all those who were retiring.”
As they prayed, Cari kept feeling God pointing to them, and then one day Bryan said, “I think God might be calling us to fill the need in Brazil.” Cari was overjoyed. They quickly pursued a three-month trip to Brazil to explore their call and potential ministry.
After visiting various teams and seeing ministries around the country, the Surretts felt God leading them to the middle-class city of Sorriso in the inland state of Mato Grosso. This rapidly-growing city has been overlooked by many ministries and Bryan and Cari hope to encourage, mentor, and train national pastors as very little biblical training exists in the area.
Craig & Cassandra Fisher | Nicaragua
Fellowship Community Church,
Mt. Laurel, NJ
Cassandra and Craig met in college while volunteering as leaders for the local Young Life outreach to high school students. They got married, had their first son, and a few years later, adopted a second and then third son from Guatemala. Their experiences of adopting and learning about their sons ignited their love for the Central American culture and people, and also allowed them to see the expansive brokenness in the world. Through that, they began developing a heart for the world, and when a visiting missionary told stories from the mission field, they felt God may be calling them to serve abroad.
The idea of missions remained on their hearts as Craig continued to help run the family rental business and Cassandra home-schooled their children. As time went on, they became unsure if God was leading them to use their business as their ministry or to pursue missions in Central America. So they prayed.
“After much prayer and speaking with other missionaries and our pastors, God made our call clear,” Craig said. “You can’t sit around waiting for the next thing in life to happen. You have to let life be lived and trust God.”
Their faith and courage to make the decision for missions were reinforced after the Fishers went on a trip to Nicaragua and caught a vision for how they could serve the Lord. Their previous experiences had already helped them fall in love with the Latin American culture, language, and people, but their visit helped them to see how their skills could complement the ABWE Nicaragua team. Craig and Cassandra felt God confirm that Nicaragua was their mission field when they saw how quickly and eagerly their kids took to the community and the ministry.
Chad & Rachel Strong | Nicaragua
West Windsor Baptist Church, Windsor, NY
Rachel credits her and Chad’s salvation to a weird and persistent FedEx man.
Nearly every day for three years, he came into the office where Rachel worked. He got to know her through short exchanges and eventually he started asking deeper questions. One day he asked, “How do you know you’re going to heaven?”
Rachel felt affronted and told him that she was a good person, but he pressed further. Rachel was so annoyed by his questions that she resolved to read the Bible for herself.
Neither Chad nor Rachel had strong religious influences growing up. Religion was more of a tradition, and after 9/11, they had begun to view organized religion as the root of all the evil in the world. But as Rachel read through the Bible, her heart softened, and she shared what she was learning with Chad. Eventually they started looking for a church home and found a Baptist church where the pastor patiently answered all of their questions using Scripture.
That “weird” FedEx man helped lead Rachel and Chad to a saving faith in Jesus and now they are pursuing missions with six of their nine children — one biological and eight adopted — by their side.
“We always said we go to the mission field after our kids left the nest, but the kids kept coming,” said Chad. “And we just thought, why not now?”
A few years ago, Rachel called her old office and asked if the same FedEx man still delivered there. He did and Rachel was able to contact him.
“Many years ago, you asked me how I knew I would go to heaven. And I finally have an answer for you,” Rachel told him. “Because the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for me.”
Odir & Cynthia Brandão | Brazil
Dayspring at Alton Road Baptist
Church, Galloway, OH
Cynthia was born and raised on the mission field in São Paulo, and her family often joked she was more Brazilian than American. She loved helping her parents in their ministry, but in her senior year of high school, her whole world changed when her father suddenly passed away.
“I really looked up to my dad and always wanted to be like him, but through that trial, I realized that God is so much greater,” Cynthia said.
Cynthia returned to the states to attend college, and during her senior year, she felt God calling her to missions. She turned to ABWE for guidance and, wanting to confirm her call, she went a on two-year mission trip to a small city in Brazil. She enjoyed her time, but the experience was the polar opposite of the bustling city of São Paulo and it was a hard adjustment.
When those two years ended, she returned to her college as a web designer and graphic designer. She enjoyed the work but couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling that God was calling her to do more.
In spite of her fear of returning to the field alone, Cynthia trusted God and arrived in São Paulo in 2013 to minister to the people she loved in the country she loved.
“I was living the missionary life and loving it. I discovered that God was all I needed,” Cynthia said. “And then God blessed me and showed me He had someone He wanted me to walk alongside.”
Odir grew up in the church but his first passion was writing. He went to college to pursue a career in journalism where he made friends at a campus church. One day, they invited him to preach, and having never preached before, Odir began studying his Bible with teaching in mind. That experience planted the seed for a dream that was never on his radar.
He began his career as a journalist, but after several years and much prayer, he eventually enrolled in seminary. He felt God calling him to be a pastor and prayed for direction. God led him to Cynthia, and together, they are eager to continue Cynthia’s parents’ ministry and legacy in the country they love.
David & Melanie Powley | Mexico
Westerly Hills Baptist Church,
Fort Mill, SC
As a pastor’s daughter, Melanie grew up doing homework on the pews and became a teacher with the idea that one day she and her husband David would do ministry full time.
“I always said I’d do what God had for me,” said David.
In the meantime, they stayed busy in their local church and bought a home. As the years passed, Melanie started itching to move out of their small, starter home and into a larger one in a better neighborhood, but then she read a book that shifted her thinking.
“God showed me that my neighborhood was my mission field,” Melanie said. “He had planted me where I was supposed to be.”
As David and Melanie began to see their neighborhood as their mission field, God started to stretch and grow David. His pastor challenged him to become the youth pastor, and while David was hesitant at first, God helped develop him into a leader and mentor.
After seven years of youth pastoring, David woke up in the middle of the night and felt God say, “You’re going to help Thomas Beard.” Thomas was a church-planting missionary in Montemorelos, Mexico, whom David and Melanie had known and supported for more than a decade.
David reached out to Thomas, and a few months later, the Powley family went down to see his ministry first hand. David was excited by the huge opportunity to help build up leaders in the local church and create a larger church-planting movement. The trip confirmed for David and Melanie that God was calling them to serve in Montemorelos full time.
“My mission statement in life is to help others,” David said. “That’s what I enjoy doing and I believe that’s what God has equipped me to do.”
Maicol & Mandy Venter | Brazil
Denbigh Baptist Church, Newport News, VA
During her third year of pre-med on a full scholarship, Mandy became serious about attending church, and her pastor’s wife challenged her to think about doing something big with her life. Then Mandy went on a mission trip to Honduras and saw all that she could do with the skills God had given her.
When she had completed her final exams, she met with her program director to discuss doing her medical internship in Africa.
“I know what I want to do with the rest of my life,” she told her director. “I want to serve God and I really would like to start now.”
Her director scoffed and told her that she would have to wait until she graduated. Something came over Mandy and she said, “Then, I guess I won’t graduate.”
Mandy traded her dream of becoming a physician assistant to prepare for full-time ministry at a Bible college. It was there that she met Maicol.
Maicol grew up in Brazil with an alcoholic father and used basketball to block out the drama at home. He would often play for 10 hours a day at a nearby court, and one day, he met a man who was mentoring a group of young players.
“He would walk around with a Bible and he had all this peace. I had never seen anything like it in my life, and I wanted to know why,” said Maicol.
That man was ABWE Missionary Dan Richner, and after three years of meeting with Maicol on the court and for an occasional soda, Dan invited Maicol to go to a weeklong Christian camp. Maicol had dropped out of high school to support his family by working at a bakery, and he couldn’t fathom giving up a paycheck. But when Dan offered to pay for him to go, Maicol went to camp and came to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Shortly after that, Cedarville University came down on a mission trip with their basketball team. Maicol was on the verge of signing a professional basketball contract in Brazil, but when Cedarville offered him a scholarship, he followed God’s calling. He played basketball and studied pre-seminary on a full scholarship before going on to seminary.
During his internship year, Maicol was encouraged to explore his passion to bring the gospel to his people, and Maicol and Mandy decided to do a two-year mission trip to Brazil.
“We got to work with the same missionaries who prayed for Maicol before he was ever saved,” Mandy said. “We have really seen the spiritual reality of the family of God.”
During their time in South Brazil — the least evangelized state in the country — they worked with other missionaries to plant a church. They are eager to return to church planting and sport ministries, and for others to join them.
Benjamin Candee | Brazil
Placerita Bible Church, Newhall, CA
Benjamin grew up convincing everyone around him — including himself — that he was a Christian. Right before he left for college, a close family friend ripped the veil away.
He told Benjamin’s mom, “Your son is a heathen. Don’t be surprised if he parties at school and gets many girls pregnant.”
His mother was horrified, but Benjamin knew he was pegged. For the next two years, he struggled to be a Christian by his own effort and strength, but while teaching the books of Romans and James at a Bible study during his sophomore year of college, the Lord deeply convicted him of his sin and hypocrisy.
“I was big, biblical Ben on the outside, and prideful, lustful, selfish Ben on the inside,” he said. “I repented, and I trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior, and that changed my life drastically.”
On fire for the Lord, Benjamin wanted to become a church planter, but knowing he would need theological training, he went to seminary and prayed for God to direct him to a mission field. Doors seemed to keep closing so Benjamin returned home. He used his seminary degree to serve in his local church while he waited for God to lead him.
“It feels like He is opening the door now, and I’m ready to go wherever He would take me,” said Benjamin.
Jordan & Abigale Matthews | Nicaragua
Calvary Baptist Church, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Growing up, Jordan knew how to act like a Christian. He went to church and memorized all of 1 John so his dad would buy him a car. But Jordan embraced living for himself, and in high school, his self-destructive choices caught up with him. He was arrested for having drugs on school property and faced jail time. Fortunately, his father was friends with the chief of police and no charges were filed, but the incident shook Jordan to his core.
“Through that, I saw how much my family and the family of God loved me, and it helped me realize how much God loved me,” Jordan said. “Knowing everything that God had saved me from, I surrendered my life to Christ and I devoted my life to serving Him.”
Jordan felt God calling him to serve on the mission field, and when he met Abigale at church, he shared his plans. Abigale deeply respected Jordan's desire to serve God on the mission field, and she knew that God wanted her to share His love through nursing, but the idea of missions terrified her. That fear dissolved when she went on a short-term medical mission trip with her sister to Kenya.
“I got to use my nursing skills to share the love of Christ. It was amazing,” Abigale said.
When she returned, she told Jordan, “I’m ready now. Let’s go.” Together, they are boldly following God’s command to “Go.”
Asia
Christina B. | South Asia
Straits Corners Baptist Church, Candor, New York
Christina has always had a knack for languages. She studied Hebrew, Greek, and Latin during high school and college, and enjoyed breaking the Bible down to the original text. She loved seeing the way root words could add new depth to God’s word, but it wasn't until two years ago at a Christian retreat that she finally understood how big and unconditional God’s love is. Then, God turned her attention to those who don’t yet know His love. Christina was particularly drawn to Muslim women because they are in a religion and culture that doesn’t value them.
“Their own husbands consider them worthless, but they are precious to God,” Christina said.
Christina wants to use her talent and passion to do Bible translation in a Muslim area of South Asia so that more people can learn about God’s immense love in their own language.
Emily E. | South Asia
Zion Baptist Church, Irvona, PA
Emily was interested in missions for as long as she can remember, and in high school, God turned that interest into a passion through a mission trip to New York City. She went to college and had missions on her mind as she majored in English. Emily was excited about the prospect of packing her bags right after graduation and heading to an exotic country to be a Christian teacher. But that's not what God had in mind.
“He kept me home — literally,” Emily said. “He took me back to the school I graduated from, to teach fifth-through-12th grade English and science.”
For the next three-and-a-half years, she taught at her alma mater and got plugged in at her church, but she never stopped waiting for God to open the door to the mission field.
“I said to God, ‘You're supposed to open doors, and this is not door opening,’” Emily said. “But He was really teaching me what it means to be involved in the local church.”
Then, one day, ABWE South Africa missionaries Darin and Kathy Ishler visited Emily's church and invited her to stay with them on the field. Emily jumped at the chance, and for two months she worked side-by-side with the Ishlers, helping them with young adult ministry and Sunday school.
When she returned to the states, Emily immediately signed up to attend ABWE’s 24-Hour D.E.M.O., a workshop that helps answer questions and guide potential missionaries.
“I knew that when it was time, God would tell me,” she said. “And as soon as I walked through the doors at ABWE, I felt God say, ‘It is now.’”
Garry & Tanya T. | South Asia
Community Baptist Church, Danbury, TX
After years of thinking he was a Christian because his mom compelled him to be baptized when he was 10, Garry truly accepted Christ as his Savior at 34 years old. Almost immediately after getting saved, he felt God wanted him to do something big, but Garry pushed the feeling away.
“I tried to stay in my little Christian comfort zone — teaching Sunday school, working with youth, and helping with mission trips,” Garry said. “I kept feeling challenged to turn my life over to God, but I wasn’t ready to pray that prayer.”
Then in 2013, Garry and Tanya went on a mission trip to India to do evangelism. It stretched them both and opened their eyes to an unreached part of the world where Jesus’ name isn’t widely known.
Towards the end of the trip, Garry saw a man accept Christ, and he wondered who would disciple this man and make sure he wasn’t forgotten. The thought weighed heavy on his heart as they returned home, but Garry’s thoughts of India began to fade as Tanya’s began to grow.
“India was a real turning point for me,” Tanya said. “Then, a few months later, our pastor gave a sermon and challenged everyone to say yes to God. I committed and quickly felt God pointing me to missions.”
Tanya told Garry, but he was still unsure. Tanya told God that if He wanted them on the mission field, He would have to call Garry and He did. God started breaking down Garry’s defenses and excuses, and then, one day, he received an email about how medical missions was reaching people for Christ.
“God had me,” Garry said.
Together, they are following God’s leading to the Memorial Christian Hospital in South Asia where Tanya will apply her nursing degree and Garry will use his maintenance experience.
Greg & Rachel Vruggink | Thailand
Grace Community Church, Hudsonville, MI
Greg grew up in a Christian home, but it wasn’t until high school that he came to know Jesus as his personal savior. Greg began hungrily reading the Bible, and one day, while studying the New Testament, he felt God calling him to missions. He went on a mission trip to Peru to see what missions was all about, and the following year, he went to China.
“China captured my heart,” Greg said.
When he returned, he started college and began working with a Chinese-American church. He also met Rachel.
Rachel’s life has been filled with challenges that would have broken most people, but for Rachel, it only deepened her faith. When she was 16, she was in a car accident that killed her 12-year-old sister and injured Rachel’s spinal chord, leaving her paralyzed. Then, a few years later, her mom died from cancer.
“It was a lot of trials in a short amount of time, but God really used those hardships to draw me to Himself and make me more like Him,” said Rachel.
Rachel, too, felt called to full-time ministry, and after college, she joined Greg in China to disciple and teach English for three years.
Upon returning, Greg served as a pastor in two Chinese churches, but after six years, he began to feel God calling him to teach and train. God led him to an opportunity that would combine his calling with his passion for Asia. He will be teaching the Old Testament at ABWE’s Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, while Rachel will focus on raising their four children and finding opportunities to disciple others.
Joshua & Rebekah Morgan | Thailand
First Baptist Church of Whitney Point,
Whitney Point, NY
A mission trip to Bogotá, Colombia, in high school set Josh’s heart on fire for missions, but the idea of full-time missions was not new. His sister is an ABWE missionary in Thailand, and she had been trying to convince Josh to join her for years.
“Me and heat don’t get along very well. I told her if she made me an air-conditioned bubble I would go,” said Josh. “She never did that but she came up with another thing that I really love — basketball.”
In college, Josh joined a group that was hosting basketball camps in northern Thailand. In his final week, he met a six-year-old boy who smiled at him and Josh picked him up and put him on his shoulders. The two became instant friends even though they didn’t speak the same language. The whole day the little boy followed Josh around, and when it was time to go, he came running up to Josh, said something in Thai, and giggled. The translator told Josh the boy said he wanted to ride the white giant again when he came back.
“I climbed in the back of the truck laughing, but I didn’t think I’d be back,” Josh said. “But as we drove away, God really started working on my heart and I thought, ‘What will happen to little kids like him if I didn’t come back?’”
Six trips later, Josh was hooked, and he came to ABWE to start the journey to the Thailand mission field. Then, he met Rebekah.
On one of their first dates, Josh unapologetically said he was called to missions in Thailand, and Josh knew Rebekah was the one when she casually responded, “That doesn’t scare me.”
In college, Rebekah’s involvement with the youth and children’s ministries at an inner-city multicultural church in Rochester, NY, pushed her out of her comfort zone. She helped with street and door-to-door outreach, and it planted a seed for missions. She told God she would go wherever He led her, and when she met Josh, her path became clear.
Josh and Rebekah are looking forward to giving more rides on the white giant and reaching the children of Thailand for Christ.
Teresa V. | South Asia
Reformation Baptist Church, Greeley, COAfter college, Teresa knew God was calling her to use her nursing degree to spread His love, and He led her to the Global Missions Health Conference in Kentucky. The conference was packed with hundreds of medical missions opportunities through dozens of organizations. It was a bit overwhelming, but one organization stood out.
“When I walked up to the ABWE booth, a man asked about my interest in missions. I told him I knew God had called me to missions and I knew He’d given me nursing as a tool for that, but I didn’t know where,” Teresa said. “He told me that ABWE is focused on building God’s kingdom — not their own organization. He said they wanted me where God wanted me. I really appreciated that.”
As the conference drew to a close, one of the speakers encouraged the attendees to ask God where He wanted them to go. As Teresa prayed, she felt God calling her to South Asia.
“I didn’t know anything about the area, but God continued to lay it on my heart,” she said. “But when I looked through my materials and handouts, I realized I didn’t have anything on South Asia.”
Teresa visited the ABWE booth one final time and met a woman who had served as a missionary nurse in South Asia for the past 20 years. The two exchanged contact information, and the following year, Teresa went on a short-term mission trip to visit her and to see ABWE’s hospital ministry in action.
“I loved how everything they do in the hospital is centered around Christ,” Teresa said. “Yes, they offer some of the best healthcare in the country, but their driving goal is to make Christ known. I want to be a part of that.”
Tom & Amy McVicker | Japan
Hampstead Baptist Church, Hampstead, MD
When Tom was a lost young man, the Navy stationed him in Japan. Tom fell in love with the people and the culture, but had no plans of returning when his service was over. Little did he know that God had a different type of service in mind.
“While I was in the Navy, I wasn’t seeing God’s view for me because I was living for myself, but now I see the way He’s been pointing to Japan throughout my life,” Tom said.
Amy also felt the call to missions, and as Tom shared his love of Japan, she began to do research and was moved by the country’s profound need. Less than 1 percent of Japanese are believers and many missionaries are so discouraged by the slow progress that they return home.
Their findings led Amy and Tom to pursue a two-week survey trip where Tom met Mr. Matsumoto, a Japanese man who wanted to practice his English. As they chatted, Tom got a glimpse into the challenges of sharing the gospel in the honor-based culture of Japan. Mr. Matsumoto said his son had become a vegetarian while he was away at college, and he was worried about how this would affect his son’s life. He worried that his son would have to find a vegetarian wife, and when he got a job, Mr. Matsumoto feared his son would offend his employer by refusing to eat his food.
“He said it would be disgraceful and that’s just being a vegetarian. That only affects one aspect of your life — whereas what Christ does in your life is all consuming,” said Tom. “So when he was saying vegetarian, I was saying Christian, and it helped me understand what we’re up against.”
God also used that discussion and their time in the city of Kumamoto to show them an opportunity to work with thousands of college students who flock to the city’s four universities. Just as Mr. Matsumoto realized with his son, Tom and Amy realized college is a critical time when young people are forming their own identities, and they felt the Lord guiding them to disciple these young people.
“Nine years ago, our pastor talked to us about being fishers of men, and they had a net that they cut it into pieces and handed out,” Tom said, pulling the small tattered piece of netting out of his wallet. “This has been in my wallet ever since. It reminds me that we are all called to be fishers of men.”
“We’re all called to share the gospel — whether it’s in our backyard or at work or across the ocean,” Amy added.
Brian & Phyllis Hovey | Papua New Guinea
First Baptist Church, Waterville, MN
Phyllis thought full-time missions was only for preachers and church planters, but when a missionary came to her church and shared that there was a place for teachers on the mission field, it shifted her thinking. She began to pray for guidance and felt God leading her to a short-term orphan care mission trip to India — where she returned two more times.
When she came back from her third mission trip to India, she met her husband Brian at church.
Growing up, Brian had seen the legalistic side of religion and dropped out of the church to pursue the American dream. He graduated from college and got a good job as an engineer, but it wasn’t enough. He felt completely broken and sank so low that he felt the only choice he had left was God or death. He chose God and gave his life fully to Christ. A few months later, he joined a friend on a mission trip to Togo to work on ABWE’s northern hospital.
“When I returned, I knew I couldn’t continue to settle,” said Brian.
Phyllis and Brian began pursuing God together, and at their wedding, they asked guests to donate to a future mission trip instead of gifts. Then, ABWE helped guide them to the Santiago Christian Academy in Chile, where Phyllis taught and Brian did maintenance work.
As their two-year term was coming to a close, they felt God telling them it wasn’t time to come home so they began moving toward a third year. Then, during their daily Scripture reading, they read a passage about the Israelites who were going into the promised land. There were two tribes who didn’t want to complete the journey and chose to settle east of the Jordan instead.
Upon reading it, Brian turned to Phyllis and asked, “Do you think we’re settling for east of the Jordan by not giving ourselves fully to serve the Lord?”
The thought unnerved Phyllis, and after much prayer, they saw that God was calling them to missions long term.
“I would challenge everyone to consider that there’s a place for them on the mission field,” Phyllis said.