Q: How did God call you to missions?
Steve: When I was at a camp during my junior year of
high school, God called me to preach His word. I prepared for ministry
at Faith Baptist Bible College, where the importance of missions was
emphasized. Friday chapels were designated for missions, and that
exposure to what God was doing around the world gave Karen and me a
desire to serve as missionaries wherever God wanted us.
Q: How did God call you to your mission field?
Steve: In 1974, I went with ABWE on a six-week
missionary internship to Peru. That time solidified my desire to serve
the Lord on the mission field, and Karen and I were married the
following year with the plan of serving in missions.
We served in Lima, Peru for two terms, but when we came home for our second furlough in 1989, we felt God was tugging on our hearts to continue our church-planting ministry in the US. God led us to California where we have continued to plant churches for an additional 25 years.
Q: What is your favorite memory from your time as a missionary?
A: Some of our favorite memories are the different baptism
services we have had — in a river outside Lima, in a portable baptistery
that leaked, in a swimming pool, in the baptistery of our mother
churches in California — but one of the most memorable baptisms was with
a young man who started coming to our English as a Second Language
(ESL) classes. Juan came to the classes for a few months, and then he
also started attending the Sunday morning services where he heard the
gospel. After several Sundays, he accepted the gift of eternal life and
committed his life to Jesus Christ. When Juan came out of the water at
his baptism, our entire church family clapped and cheered. We rejoiced
at how God had used ESL classes to bring this young man under His
teaching.
Q: What story or moment had the biggest impact on your ministry?
A: In 1982, we found ourselves sitting in the living room of
our small home in Lima grieving a miscarriage — at a time when a
20-minute phone call home to family cost $80. We asked ourselves, “What
is God doing?” Our first year in Peru was full of many adjustments to
the language and culture. We had struggled through language school with
two little ones, and after the loss of our baby, we felt the full weight
of everything. We wondered if we had missed God’s direction for our
ministry.
The Lord encouraged us with Psalm 34:17, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.” God’s peace assured us that we were where He wanted us, and months later we saw the heartbeat of our third child on a sonogram. Ultimately, God blessed us with four children: Beth, Ben, Anna, and Rachel.
That experience strengthened our trust in God, and Karen has had the opportunity to use that struggle to reach other grieving mothers.
Q: What advice would you give to those considering missions?
A: As church planters in the US, we’ve learned that you can
cross cultures without crossing borders. The mission field has truly
come to us. Learn to see the people all around you as the mission field
where God has placed you.
