• Diane - 1987

August 1987 - Diane boarded the flight which would bring her to Africa, a continent yet unknown to her.  The call on her heart was unquestionable, compelling her to take such a step of faith in spite of the fear of the unknown. Two years of teaching high school math to the children of missionaries at the Rift Valley Academy in Kenya lay ahead.  Those two years were vastly rewarding, the best of her life (to that point). This first step of faith, however, also opened up to her a whole new world - she discovered an ability with languages, which coupled with a desire to work among those without a gospel witness, would lead her on an exciting journey which would pass through Brazil for another short term, and then on to Chad 8 years later, to Mark and the Kwong. (Click here to see some pictures and our impressions of RVA.)  

• Mark - 1982

Reagan was in his second year when Mark embarked on an unforgettable trip to the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea during the summer of 1982. A summer of hiking through the mountains, sleeping in native huts, eating native food, surveying water supplies and sanitation in remote villages, and living with half a dozen TEAM missionaries confirmed in his mind that a life of missionary service was not only something that God was calling him to, but that he could thoroughly enjoy, even in primitive conditions. As Providence would have it, his dream of returning to the lush jungles of New Guinea never came to pass. But the summer of '82 was the beginning of a journey which brought him 7 years later to the sands of Chad, the Kwong, and ultimately, Diane.

• Send us your kids (if they're serious)

As our own history in the forgoing paragraphs illustrates so well, short term mission trips can be key milestones in a young person's call to missionary service. While we are not particularly enthusiastic about some of the junkets taken by kids who are either too young or not serious enough to think of a life-time of missions, we are big fans of serious trips taken by college students who are considering a career of missionary service. It is doubtful whether either of us would be on the mission field today were it not for the missionaries in  New Guinea, Kenya and Brazil who welcomed us into their homes and made our experiences with them so rich and memorable. So it is no accident that as we visit the States and Canada this coming summer, we will be reiterating our longstanding offer: If one of our churches or someone we know well recommends a young person who is seriously considering a life-time of missionary service, we will move heaven and earth to welcome him or her in our home in Chageen and make their experience in Chad as rewarding as ours was in Kenya and New Guinea 20 and 25 years ago.