Nick
Rachevsky
Email: nick_in_portugal@yahoo.ca
Church: Temple Baptist Church, Cambridge,
ON, Canada
Age saved: 16
Field: Portugal
When Nick was fourteen, his family
moved to Cambridge, Ontario. One of the first friends he made
there was a Christian. Within a year and a half, Nick understood
that he was a sinner and accepted Christ as his Savior.
In 1997, Nick went on a short-term
missions trip to Russia, where he had his first experience
of witnessing. While there, Nick and a friend led seven children
to the Lord in one sitting. Even so, Nick didn't think that
he could ever be a missionary, especially after observing
one missionary who pastored three churches. He resolved that,
instead, he would help missionaries all he could.
Later that year, he heard of a school
that taught the children of missionaries. He says, “When I
was first considering teaching MKs, I saw myself as a teacher,
not a missionary. However, after teaching in Portugal for
a couple of years and being involved with all the missionaries
there, I realized I was doing what I thought I could never
do—be a missionary!”
In July of 2004, Nick returned from
Portugal to be interviewed and appointed by the ABWE Board
for career missions. He looks forward to returning to Portugal
to continue the ministry he has begun at the Greater Lisbon
Christian Academy.
Jessica
Ryder
Email: jessicaryder314@hotmail.com
Church: Calvary Baptist Church, Bloomsburg,
PA
Age saved: 5
Field: Portugal
Jessica was privileged to grow up
in a family who loved God. She remembers learning about God
and hell when she was young, and one night went to her parents
to pray with them for forgiveness of her sins. For many years
she thought of Christianity as simply salvation from hell,
not an actual relationship with God.
But during her high school years,
the Lord worked in Jessica's heart. She remembers, “I went
to Portugal on a missions trip when I was sixteen, and the
thought of being a missionary was first impressed on my mind.”
She decided to go to Baptist Bible College, where her relationship
with the Lord grew. “God changed me in many ways,” she says.
In the summer of 2002, Jessica had the opportunity to serve
in Ghana for four weeks. “That trip gave me a better perspective
on what being a missionary was all about. It took me a few
months after returning to sort out all that God had done in
my life while I was in Ghana.”
Jessica is confident that God wants
her to serve Him full-time. She applied to ABWE for the Assistant
Missionary Program, attended the 2003 Candidate Seminar and
spent the 2003-04 school year teaching in Portugal. She looks
forward to returning to Portugal, now as a career missionary.
Melanie
Shustack
Email: dahlia54@yahoo.com
Church: First Baptist Church, Perkasie, PA
Age saved: 8
Field: Papua New Guinea
Melanie is grateful for the influence
of her church in her life from a young age. A Wednesday night
club leader led her to the Lord, and she was active in the
youth group as a teenager. She chose Messiah College for its
elementary education program and the many ministries in which
she could be involved.
After graduation she went home and
became involved in her church. Pastor Randy Gaumer invited
many missionaries to speak at First Baptist, and the Lord
used these missionaries in Melanie's heart to give her a burden
for missions.
“I realized I wanted to live the
life God was calling me to,” Melanie says. “That meant not
only teaching, but using my gifts on a mission field. I am
grateful for every opportunity God has placed in my path.”
Melanie looks forward to using her gifts with the ABWE team
in Papua New Guinea.
Chuck
and Teri (Fitch) Stutes
Email: cesmi1@yahoo.com
Church: Calvary Baptist Church, Grand Rapids,
MI
Age saved: Chuck 5, Teri
7
Field: International Ministries
Chuck and Teri were both raised
in Christian homes and were saved at young ages. They met
at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and were married
in 1998. They are currently in the process of adopting a child
from Korea.
“I always knew that I would be a
cop,” Chuck says. “I went to Cornerstone with the full intention
of going into law enforcement.” But when he did an internship
with the Grand Rapids Police Department, he realized that
this wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. After graduation,
Chuck worked a few jobs and acquired new skills in several
areas of technology.
When he was laid off at one point,
Chuck and Teri went through a difficult time. They began to
look at their life experiences and passions to consider the
kinds of ministries in which they could be involved. Chuck
says,
“One of our pastors encouraged us
to sit down with Al Cuthbert, and he shared with us the ministry
of International Baptist University and specifically one current
need. As he outlined it, these were all qualifications that
I could meet.”
Sheri
Terrill
Email: sheriterrill@yahoo.com
Church: Kossuth Street Baptist Church, Lafayette,
IN
Age saved: 6
Field: Kosovo
Sheri accepted the Lord at an early
age and is grateful for the godly influences that God has
used in her life. At the end of different missions conferences,
she remembers thinking that, if God called her into missions,
she would be willing to go. “But I was hoping that I wouldn't
have to,” she recalls.
One of her excuses was that she
didn't think she could learn a language. But God taught her
through a missions conference that she could do anything.
She dreaded the application and pre-field processes, going
through an oral doctrinal exam and asking churches for money.
“But all my excuses boiled down to the fact that I was self-centered,”
Sheri says. “I realized that God placed me here to bring honor
and glory to Him, not for me to accomplish my own plans.”
Sheri's sister, Nadine, invited her to come to Kosovo
for a year, where she was involved in teaching children. It
is Sheri's desire to return to Kosovo to teach full-time.
Aaron and Stephanie
(Aholt) Thomas
Email: bigmanaaron@earthlink.net
Church: Linworth Baptist Church, Worthington,
OH
Age saved: Aaron 3, Stephanie
5
Field: Papua New Guinea
While many MKs
grow up on the field, knowing no other life, Stephanie
had the privilege of watching her parents during their decision-making
process, Bible college training, and pre-field ministry. “God
proved Himself so many times in their lives,” Stephanie recalls.
The Aholt family moved to PNG when Stephanie was in high school,
and it was her time there that the Lord used to lead her into
full-time missions.
Aaron was raised in a Christian home,
but never thought that he would be a missionary. When missionaries
Bill and Debbie Tobias visited in his home, Aaron listened
to them describe their life and ministry in PNG and realized
this was something he could do. The Lord developed in him
a desire to be involved in missions. He had an opportunity
to go to PNG for a year and a half, as a short term missionary.
There he met Stephanie.
They attended World of Life Bible Institute
together and were married in 1999. Aaron decided he wanted
to go back to college to become a teacher. “I've been teaching
4th grade for two years and I've learned how important it
is for males to be involved with kids,” Aaron says. “I'm ready
to leave for the field tomorrow.” They are excited to return
to Papua New Guinea and the people they have both come to
love.
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Jeff
and Jennifer Thomas
Email: jeff.jenny@juno.com
Children: Noah ('99), Ellen ('01), Madeline
('04)
Church: Placerita Baptist Church, Newhall,
CA
Age saved: Jeff 11, Jennifer
12
Field: Portugal
Both Jennifer and Jeff made salvation
decisions as children, as a result of the faithful teaching
of the Word of God. Jennifer admits that in high school, she
made a lot of poor choices, but in college, her heart was
drawn to more spiritual things. She became involved in Campus
Crusade for Christ and is grateful for a special mentor who
encouraged her toward ministry. At college, Jeff noticed how
people bought into secular philosophies, and knew he did not
want to make that mistake. “I told the Lord I wanted to serve
Him, but I had no idea what that would look like,” he says.
After Jennifer graduated from college,
she spent a year in the Middle East working with Muslim college
students. She found her interest in missions growing. “When
I returned,” Jennifer says, “I met my husband. His desire
was to be in ministry, but not necessarily in missions.”
After they were married, Jeff and
Jennifer went to seminary. Jeff comments, “I knew that my
wife had a missions background and was willing to serve the
Lord in that way. I opened my mind to the thought of missions.”
The Lord used their associate pastor to urge them toward full-time
missions. “I gave him the standard answer,” Jeff says, “I'll
pray about it.” That summer, one of the seminary professors
was going to Asia, so Jeff went with him. They went to Hong
Kong and Bangladesh. “There was a point at which it became
clear to me that, in order to serve the Lord with my gifts,
missions was the way to do it.”
Dan
and Amy (Nofsinger) Thyng
Email: mcadevelopmentoffice@charter.net
Children: Tyler ('04)
Church: Johnston Chapel Baptist Church, Princeton,
WV
Age saved: Dan 20, Amy 4
Field: Papua New Guinea
When they first met at Pensacola
Christian College, Amy told Dan of her desire to serve the
Lord in missions. He thought, “She's a beautiful woman, but
there's no way in the world I'm going to be a missionary.”
Dan grew up in a Christian home,
but wasn't saved until his junior year of college. Later that
year in a missions conference, Dan dedicated his life to missions.
Amy remembers a night when her dad
preached at their church and she accepted the Lord after the
service at home. After she returned from a missions trip to
Moscow, Russia, Amy was impressed by the number people who
didn't know about God. At this point, she dedicated her life
to missions.
While Dan was in seminary, he attended
a missions conference at which a pastor positioned ten pairs
of shoes on pedestals, then for each pair he told a story
about a different missionary. He spoke of a missionary who
had completed work on an airstrip to a remote tribal group.
Unexpected events caused the missionary to leave the field,
and no one had used that airstrip to reach those lost people
with the gospel. He then asked, “Who will fill these shoes?”
Last summer, a couple from their
church, the Huffmans, were appointed to PNG with ABWE. The
Huffmans encouraged Dan and Amy to attend Candidate Seminar
and have been a wonderful blessing to them throughout this
process.
Rob
and Amy (Mensch) Wagner III
Email: rawagner4@juno.com
Children: Hope ('93), Abagail ('95)
Church: First Baptist Church, Bellefonte,
PA
Age saved: Rob 31, Amy 30
Field: Papua New Guinea
Rob and Amy met in the seventh grade,
but didn't start dating until after high school. Rob's family
had a Catholic background, but did not attend church regularly.
Amy's family was Presbyterian. They were married in the Presbyterian
church, and for awhile they attended the 7 a.m. service at
the Catholic church and then the 10 a.m. service at the Presbyterian
church. After they went to a wedding in a Lutheran church,
they attended there for five years.
In 1996, Steve and Becky Bolich
moved into the house next door to Rob and Amy Wagner. It was
a providential move. Over the subsequent months, the two couples
became fast friends. One evening in May of 1997, Amy had accumulated
a number of concerns while reading the book of Revelation.
Becky came over to watch the news with her, but ended up answering
her questions and explaining the way of salvation. Amy went
upstairs to wake Rob at 1 a.m. She was saved at 2 a.m., and
he was saved an hour later.
After they were saved, Rob and Amy
began attending First Baptist Church in Bellefonte. Pastor
Ron Berrus and his wife became their spiritual parents. On
two separate occasions, Rob traveled with a Men for Missions
team, and in April of 2000, Rob and Amy dedicated their lives
for missions.
Soon after, Rob was able to go on
a short-term trip to Papua New Guinea, then he and Amy went
back to PNG for nine months to supervise the construction
of two missionary homes. Through those experiences, Rob and
Amy have found that “wherever we go, God can use us.”
Ted
and Debra Welch
Email: tedwelch2@hotmail.com
Children: Sharon Crider ('73), Jason
('75), Chad ('77), Sean ('79), David ('81), Titus ('85)
Church: Calvary Baptist Church, St. Charles,
IA
Age saved: Ted 18, Debra
5
Field: Ukraine
Ted grew up in the United Methodist
Church. He read the Bible and kept asking the Lord to forgive
his sins, but with no peace. When he went to Iowa State University,
he was invited to Campus Baptist Church and there accepted
the Lord. Later he heard a missionary speak, and his heart
was broken for the people of the world. Debra was raised in
a Christian home that often hosted missionaries. With missions
in mind, they both went to Faith Baptist Bible College in
Ankeny, Iowa, and there they met.
After they were married, Ted and
Debra worked with Baptist Mid-Missions for twenty-one years
in Ghana, West Africa, and in Iowa. “We came back from Ghana
with a burden to reach our own country for the Lord,” Ted
says. After leaving Baptist Mid-Missions, they served in a
church in Missouri and one in Iowa. In the fall of 2000, Ted
went to Ukraine with Send International to teach a class on
apologetics. During this trip he saw the great church-planting
movement going on in Ukraine and felt compelled to help.
Two more trips, one to Ukraine and
one to Russia, caused them to know that the Lord was leading
to Ukraine. Ted adds, “God has broken my heart for these dear
people. People are being saved and churches are being established,
but there is a tremendous need to train pastors. We are not
young – but we believe that God can use us to plant churches
and train pastors in Ukraine.”
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