Testimonies
It was at a “Child
Evangelism Fellowship” Bible club, April 20, 1960 at five years of age,
where I recognized that Jesus died for my sins. I received Him as my
Savior and was baptized at the Oswego Baptist Church in Oswego,
Illinois.
Throughout my school years I tried to faithfully witness to my
classmates and teachers. I knew that I would serve the Lord in full time
service, though I tried to avoid pastoring by asserting I wasn’t
“called”. I graduated from Baptist Bible College in Springfield,
Missouri in 1977 and went into Christian education. While administrating
a Christian school in Maine, I recognized that, though I enjoyed working
with the children, my soul was still unfulfilled because I was not doing
what God had called me to do; ministering the gospel.
Krista, my wife, was led
to the Lord by her father, Rev. John Pursselley when she was five years
old. She has led a faithful life to the Lord ever since, attempting to
please her parents, her Lord, and for the last 29 years, her husband.
Not only this, but she has been a most excellent mother, leading both
our children to the Lord and doing her part in preparing them to be
faithful servants of God.
Our daughter Rachel, her
husband Cory Barker, and their sons, Isaac, Micah, and Aaron who will be
born in March of 2006, are in Managua, Nicaragua for the purpose of
planting churches. Our son Eli, has recently earned his Master of
Divinity degree and has moved his family to Colorado to become the Youth
Pastor at Bethel Baptist Church of Fort Collins. His wife, Rebekah, has
just completed two undergraduate degrees in Education and Missions. They
have two sons, Joel and Ethan. If you are keeping count, that is five
grandsons and zero granddaughters….as of yet! Our children and their
spouses have led exemplary lives before and during their college years.
God has richly blessed us with children that want nothing more than to
serve their Lord and Savior.
Ministries – past, present, and future
After surrendering to the
gospel ministry in Maine, we went to Virginia to gain experience working
under a pastor as an assistant, majoring on the youth and soul-winning.
After that period of preparation for the ministry, in 1982 we moved to
Massachusetts. There I started a church and pastored it four years.
From there we went to work with my father-in-law at Meadowview Baptist
Church in Republic, Missouri. In 1989 I was called to Bible Baptist
Church in Elkhart, Kansas. After a ten year ministry, the Lord burdened
us for missions in a new way.
In May of 1999, Krista
and I were approved as missionaries to England. I was called to head up
Independent Baptist Bible College. I enjoyed this ministry immensely. We
saw graduates go into the pastorate, missionary service, and
church-planting ministries.
Now God has touched
our hearts for the field of Nicaragua. Presently, there are six BBF
missionary families and one single lady serving in Nicaragua, with a
couple more on the way. We are presently in language school in Managua.
We are so anxious to learn the language well enough to communicate the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to this dear but needy people. When we complete
our studies, we then will work with “Team Nicaragua” in the ministry of
winning the lost to Christ, establishing Bible-believing Baptist
Churches, and training the Nicaraguans to reach their own people for
Christ.
“Team Nicaragua” is a concept of church planting taken from the New
Testament.
Along with Paul we find many other
names involved in a cooperative effort for planting New Testament
churches. Barnabas, Mark, Silas, Timothy, and Titus of course were his
major partners. At this point there are three missionary couples
involved with Team Nicaragua. We will work both in cooperation and
independently as the situations dictate. The Kratochvils and Barkers are
establishing a church in Managua. Krista and I are praying about
starting a work in Ciudad Sandino, a city of 100,000 souls, less than 10
km west of Managua. We will work together in evangelistic and pastor
training efforts. As pastors are trained and other missionaries join our
efforts, we anticipate seeing many souls won and many churches
established throughout the country.
Thank you for considering us for this needy people.
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