| Michael
and Heidi (Fielder) Blackwell
Email: Michael@blackwellmissions.com
Children: Tyler ('00), Eric ('03)
Church: High Point Baptist Churc , Geigertown,
PA
Age saved: Michael 8, Heidi 10
Field: Capetown , South Africa
Both Michael and Heidi grew up in
ministry families. Michael's family went as missionaries to
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe ) when he was two years old. When he
was eight, Michael accepted Christ as his Savior, and shortly
after, the family moved to South Africa, opening the field
for ABWE. In time, Michael's dad became increasingly burdened
for the Afrikaans people, and the family decided to change
their ministry to focus on that group.
Heidi was born in Portland, Oregon,
while her dad was in seminary. Family devotions were a regular
part of this ministry family's routine. When she was ten,
during that devotions time, Heidi realized that the salvation
decision she thought she had made as a four-year-old was not
real. She prayed that night to accept Christ as her Lord and
Savior.
When Michael came back to the States
for college, he had decided to pursue his own plan or his
life. He went to Bob Jones for a year and a half, then transferred
to Purdue University to pursue a management degree. Heidi
went to college in Texas for a year, but decided to return
to attend community college in Florida, where her parents
then lived. While working at Kmart, she met Michael's grandmother
who set them up on a blind date. They were married a year
later.
Meanwhile, Michael's heart was changing.
“I had started to obtain many of the things I had planned
in my life,” he said. “Then the Lord brought a missionary
to our church who said that he had lived outside the will
of God for ten years, but when he finally yielded his life
to the Lord, he was happy.” Michael's brother in South Africa
started a camp and asked Michael and Heidi to come and work
with him there. Michael and Heidi decided to pursue the opportunity.
They served there for two years and look forward to going
back to South Africa as church planters.
John and
Susan (Ebersole) Briggs
Email: briggsbunch7@ncats.net
Children: Ben ('85), Bethany ('86), Bruce
('89), John Tyler ('92), Ryan ('94)
Church: North Casnovia Baptist Churc , Bailey,
MI
Age saved: John 8, Susan
4
Field: Togo
Both John and Susan were born to Christian
parents. John grew up on a farm in Michigan, while Susan was
part of a second generation missionary family in the Philippine
Islands. When Susan was a young child, her mother died. Susan
recalls, “I experienced God's love and faithfulness to our
family in providing our grandparents to care for me and my
four siblings.” Later God sent Nancy Goehring, a missionary
widow, into their lives as a new wife and mother.
John and Susan met at Wheaton College
and were married. They then went to the University of Michigan
for John to attend medical school. When John's family practice
residency was completed, they moved to Saipan for three and
a half years, and then moved back to Michigan in 1993. John
joined a medical group in Fremont, and they have been active
in their church.
God's call to missions has become clear
in their lives in recent years. John says, “With eternity
in mind, I want to go where God can most effectively use me
in His redemptive plan. What a privilege to have God use my
medical training to help point the Togolese people to the
gospel that gives eternal healing.”
Chad and
Marnie (Ehlers) Butler
Email: cmnmonsters@juno.com
Children: Daniel ('97), Alexandria ('98),
Samantha (‘00), Melissa ('03)
Church: University Heights Baptist Church,
Indianapolis, IN
Age saved: Chad 5, Marnie
5
Field: Ghana
Marnie watched her parents go through
pain and difficulties in ministry, and so determined that,
while she had a sensitive heart for people's physical and
spiritual needs, she had no desire to be involved in full-time
ministry. High school was a time of sports, friends, and parties.
When she realized that she needed to get her life on track,
her mom reminded her of her promise to go to a Christian college
for a year. She attended Cedarville College and majored first
in special education and then in social work. When she became
a counselor in a crisis pregnancy center, she reaffirmed her
compassion for people, and the Lord softened her heart for
ministry.
At Cedarville, Marnie met Chad, who also
struggled with real faith as a teenager. His desire was to
go to Indiana University to study business, but his parents
wanted him to go to Cedarville for a year. Warren Wiersbe
preached in the fall Bible Conference, and every night of
the conference, the Lord used the preaching of the Word in
Chad 's heart. With faculty member Dr. David Warren's guidance
over the next three years, Chad graduated ready for ministry.
Chad and Marnie were married by then,
and soon took their first youth ministry position. It was
a difficult year, but the Lord taught them many things. They
moved back to Indiana, intending to stay for only one year,
but ended up staying for five. Chad became successful in his
job, but during that time, he realized that he needed to be
back in full-time ministry. Under the leadership and guidance
of their pastor, Doug Pabody, Chad and Marnie prepared for
ministry. K.C., an ABWE missionary, came to speak at their
church, and hey began to see how God could use them in missions.
Rick and
Lisa (McNally) Caynor
Email: rick@abwe.org
Children: Kristin ('93), Ricky ('95)
Church: Faith Baptist Church, Visalia, CA
Age saved: Rick 15, Lisa
4
Field: Thailand
Lisa calls herself one of those kids who
was at the church all the time. She grew up around people
in ministry – her family and many missionaries. Sunday night
was “color crayon” time. One Sunday night, she was coloring
when something the pastor said touched her heart, and later
she prayed with her mother for salvation. Lisa always listened
with awe when missionaries spoke in her church. One time the
speaker was Jeannie Lockerbie, and as she spoke to the Sunday
School classes, she challenged the children to give their
lives for full-time ministry. Lisa did that at the age of
seven.
Rick did not grow up in a Christian home.
One night when he was a teenager, a friend offered to take
him to a Christian concert about two hours away. Rick remembers,
“I had never heard that Jesus was the Son of God. I thought
this guy sounded really cool, and I wondered, who is He? What
stood out for me was that you could be a new person in Jesus
Christ. I was amazed, because there was one thing I wanted,
and that was a new life.”
Rick and Lisa met at Western Baptist College,
and were married in 1991. Their years of youth ministry, including
those working for ABWE Mobilization, have convinced Rick and
Lisa of their passion for missions. Their desire is to facilitate
church planting in Thailand through involvement with young
people and the ministries of local churches.
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Joe
and Heidi (Guevara) DePuy
Email: JSykesD_PBC@juno.com
Church: Beacon Baptist Church, Clay, NY
Age saved: Joe 9, Heidi
10
Field: Mexico
Joe and Heidi
are grateful for Christian parents who showed them the way
of salvation. They each accepted the Lord at a young age.
They also attended Faith Heritage High School together in
Syracuse, New York, and were high school sweethearts.
The Lord used
a missions trip to Mexico with their high school to touch
their hearts for missions. Joe says, “I left Mexico in tears,
not wanting to leave after that week. I had a burden for the
people there, and I hurt for those who received Christ as
Savior who I would not be able to disciple.”
Heidi knew, from
the preparation for that trip and the time in Mexico, that
the Lord was calling her into missions as well.
The DePuy's time
in Bible college has been stretching, teaching them to depend
on the Lord every day. They are currently involved with the
youth in their church, and eagerly anticipate the privilege
of serving the Lord in Mexico.
Bethany
Dean
Email: deanbr1@gcc.edu
Church: First Baptist Church, Grove Cit ,
PA
Age saved: 6
Field: Mexico
“I am blessed to have parents who model
daily a proper relationship with Christ.” Bethany is grateful
for the positive influence her parents have had in her life,
most significantly their encouragement to live a life of obedience
to Christ.
Bethany 's youth pastor and wife, David
and Bonnie Maitland, have also had significant impact on her
life. On summer missions trips with the youth group, Bethany
realized her desire to be a missionary. As a staff member
at Slippery Rock Baptist Camp, the Lord deepened her desire
to commit her life to ministry. At Grove City College, Professor
Kathryn Van Til showed her that teaching is an important ministry
in missions.
Through ABWE's Impact program, Bethany
had the opportunity to work with Antonio and Diana Navarette.
“Working with them in Mexico City gave me the deep desire
to spend my life specifically ministering to Latin American
people.”
When Bethany told her parents of her desire
to be a missionary in Mexico City, they were not surprised.
She knows that they realize that she will not be spending
her future near them. Bethany is ready to obey God because
of faithful mentors in her life.
Kyle and
Heather (Fankhauser) Farran
Email: kylefarran@hotmail.com
Children: Abigail ('02), Emily ('04)
Church: Cement City Baptist Church, Cement
Cit , MI
Age saved: Kyle 5, Heather
4
Field: Durban, South Africa
Kyle is privileged to have had missionary
parents and the opportunity to spend four years of his life
in Papua New Guinea. When he was older and living in the U.S.,
God used a missions trip back to PNG to instill in his heart
a desire to be involved in taking the gospel to the world.
Kyle says, “God has made seeing and savoring His glory the
greatest joy of my life. I long to share with others the glory
of God and the greatness of what He has done, so that He may
become their all-satisfying treasure.”
Heather was also raised in a Christian
family and counts it a blessing that the Lord chose to bring
her to salvation at a young age. Through a missions trip during
college, God placed the desire for missions in Heather's heart.
While on a mountain top in Mexico, Heather realized that the
only life worth living was a life with God's power and love
flowing through it. She says, “No career that I could muster
up on my own would ever bring complete joy. It is a thrill
to me to turn my life over to God in full-time missions and
see where He leads.”
Kyle and Heather met when she was visiting
a friend at the New Tribes Bible Institute where Kyle was
studying. Their common desire for missions brought them together.
God has given Kyle and Heather a burden to minister to people
whose lives have been affected by AIDS. They will join the
ABWE team in Durban, South Africa, to reach out to hurting
people with the love of Christ.
Dave and
Cindy (Wood) Feriante
Email: cynthialee72@earthlink.net
Children: Adina ('83), Andrea ('85), Joseph
('02)
Church: Memorial Bible Church, Yakima, WA
Age saved: Dave 16, Cindy 3
Field: Italy
“I have wanted to serve the Lord
for as long as I can remember,” Cindy recalls. She is thankful
to have been raised in a Christian home, where she was saved
at an early age. Many godly people influenced her as she grew
in her Christian life. Special missionary friends offered
her the opportunity to spend two summers with them in Mexico,
where she learned about missionary life and work through their
daily example.
Dave grew up in a missionary family
in Italy, and though he heard the gospel on a regular basis,
the truths didn't penetrate his heart until he was sixteen.
As he grew, Dave developed a great desire to study the Word
of God and to serve the Lord, and as a college student he
went to Italy on a Missionary Apprentice Program.
As a single, Cindy found joy in
serving the Lord as a counselor in a Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Missions was always in her mind. Dave's first wife died of
cancer, and when he and Cindy met, he mentioned his desire
to return to Italy as a missionary. They married in 2000,
then in 2003 learned of a need in an international church
(Torino), Italy. Dave made a trip there to teach a seminary
course, and then both Dave and Cindy returned for two months
to serve the International Church in Torino. God used those
trips to open their hearts to the needs of the international
community in Italy.
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