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 From
Phil: I was raised in a
godly Christian home in southern Michigan. My parents trained me
from a very young age about the importance of placing God first in
my life. When I was 5 years old, I asked the Lord to come into my
heart and save me. When I was in 7th grade, my family began
attending Faith Baptist Church in Davison, Michigan. It was here
that the Lord began to get a hold of my heart and give me a passion
for missions. After mission trips to Mexico, New York City, and
Montreal, it was quite apparent that the Lord was directing my heart
to the mission field.
In
2003, I asked my Pastor (Dr. John Lewis) if he could recommend a
Native American missionary with whom I could do an internship.
After consulting Dr. Bob Jones III, he recommended Regeneration
Reservation in Fort Thomas, Arizona. In 2004, the summer of my
sophomore year at Bob Jones University, I spent two months working
and training under the Regeneration team. At the completion of this
summer, the Lord had given me a tremendous passion for the Apache
people and a strong desire to return and join the ministry efforts
on the San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations.
In
2006, I married my wonderful wife Bethany. Upon completion of my MA
from Bob Jones Seminary in 2008, the Lord opened the door for us to
move to Arizona and work in the Fort Thomas school system, which has
95% Apache enrollment.
The
Lord provided abundantly through this “tent making” approach for two
years. As a result of our time on the Apache field, we believe that
God’s will for our lives is to continue on with Regeneration
Reservation.
As God led us
to these decisions, it became quite apparent that we would need to
raise support in order to fulfill the full-time ministry and church
planting call that God has placed in our hearts. With this in mind,
we applied and were accepted with Baptist World Mission in April,
2010. Throughout the deputation process, we plan to use our home at
Regeneration as our home base. While we already live on our mission
field, we are greatly looking forward to completing deputation and
being able to give all of our time and effort to minister with the
Apache people.
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From
Bethany: I was born into
an evangelist family and grew up traveling around the country. As I
was in church nearly every night of my childhood, I heard the Gospel
many times at a young age. I asked the Lord into my heart at the age
of four. The importance of ministry was always stressed to me by my
parents. Through evangelistic ministry I received experience in
music, children’s ministry, and people skills. While traveling on
the road I had many opportunities to see God work and provide needs.
As a young teen, I felt God directing me to mission work. I went to
Bob Jones University in 2002 and graduated in 2006 with a degree in
church music.
Living on the Native mission field for two years has been an eye
opening experience. I am learning patience every day as I encounter
the mindset of a culture so different to my own. At times it seems
that the obstacles are insurmountable. God has been showing me that
it is impossible for me to evangelize the Native people. He must do
that through me as I trust Him.
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