We were on home assignment in Calgary, Alberta, when the General Assembly was held there in 2000. This was following our third term as international workers (IWs) in Mali, West Africa. We had asked for and been granted a second year of home assignment, partially for family reasons and because we were at a critical decision-making point in our ministry lives.
The assignment given to us by the Mali field in August 1985 was to learn the Bomu dialect and then work alongside the National Church leadership in helping to reach over two hundred unreached villages in the northern part of Bwa country. When we left for home assignment in July 1999, we rejoiced; the task had been completed. Through evangelism teams, mainly using the JESUS film, the Tominian and Zamana districts of the National Church with whom we partnered had taken the Gospel or at least offered the opportunity to hear the Good News, to every village in the region. Well over one hundred churches had been planted and were being led by newly trained pastors.
We had heard the expression, ‘A missionary’s job is to work themselves out of a job,’ many times and probably even said it ourselves. It’s a true statement, but when it becomes a reality for IWs, the resulting mixed emotions coupled with all the questions related to ‘what’s next?’ can sometimes seem very ominous. That question was the topic of conversation with our Desert Sand regional developer, Ron Brown, during General Assembly as we had lunch in the food court at the University of Calgary. We shared with Ron the questions we were grappling with and the emotions we felt as we knew we would not be returning to ministry with our beloved Bwa people. The Mali field had asked us to consider other ministry opportunities elsewhere in the country, but we did not feel at peace in following through on any of their suggestions.
As we talked, Ron told us about a vision God had given him and the burden he was carrying for a large nomadic people group known as the Tuaregs (Tamajek) who lived in Northern Mali and the neighbouring country of Niger. As he wondered out loud whether we could become part of that vision, I (Dorrie), without thinking of the implications, immediately and excitedly said, “Yes!”
Years earlier, while travelling with a team of Alliance Youth Corps students, we had been invited by our IW colleagues in the Mopti region to visit them and help with some ministry projects. John and Jeannie took us to see an encampment of Tuareg refugees who had come down from Timbuktu. When Ron talked about the possibility of us initiating a ministry amongst the Tuareg, our minds immediately went back to the wonderful visit we had in the refugee camp, the welcome we felt, and the hospitality extended to us. It seemed like a little thing at the time when the Tuareg formed a circle and began dancing for us; then, to my surprise and embarrassment, they invited me (eight months pregnant!) into the circle to dance with them. Looking back, I see how God used this serendipity moment in my life to prepare me for a new ministry adventure years later.
An MK Friend, a Mexican Experience, a Knife, and the Alliance Youth Corps
Both of us grew up with Christian parents who had a strong interest in and commitment to supporting IWs. Missions’ conferences and mission emphases in our churches during our childhood years were highlights for us, made even more special because our parents would often host the missionaries in our homes. God used these personal contacts and friendships with IWs in our childhood to plant the possibility of missions as a career in our young minds.
Dorrie:
When my family moved to Seattle, I took my junior high and high school in a Christian school. My Dad had accepted the position of principal of the affiliated elementary school, which was the reason for our move. My Spanish teacher was a missionary to Mexico, and very quickly, her daughter and I became best friends. My friendship with Joy and her mother, my love for the Spanish language, and my adventurous spirit were the catalysts the Holy Spirit used to prepare me for a calling to overseas ministry.
When I was given the opportunity to participate in a short-term mission trip to Mexico with Operation Mobilization after my first year at Canadian Bible College (CBC), I eagerly applied and was accepted. During the journey, I came face to face with the reality of the powers of darkness and their hold on the lives of the local people to whom we ministered. I had a scary personal encounter one night with demonic forces but learned by experience the power and victory we have through prayer and the proclamation of Jesus’ name. Strange as it may seem, God used my frightening experience to confirm His call to missions in my life.
Dennis:
The possibility of becoming a missionary was often on my mind as a young child, even though I loved life on the farm and thought I would become a farmer like my Dad. I still have the snake-skin-handled knife given to me when I was maybe ten years old by a single missionary lady who would stay in our home for weeks at a time while on home assignment from Nigeria. When a missionary family from Benin was visiting in our home, I told them that when I grew up, I would go to Africa as a missionary so they could come home to retire. Interestingly, the very summer Howard and Louise came home from Africa, we arrived to begin our IW ministry a couple of countries to the northeast of Benin!
After two years at Canadian Bible College, I had begun to pursue my dream of farming when the Holy Spirit interrupted my plans and showed me full-time ministry was God’s desire for my life. I cancelled my plan to buy some land close to my family’s farm, sold my cattle for just enough money to pay off the loan I had taken to purchase them, and returned in the fall to complete my studies at CBC.
It was the same fall (1971) when Dorrie and I met in front of the business office at CBC. However, it was not until after the Christmas break when we were both part of an Operation Mobilization Christmas campaign in Monterrey, Mexico when our relationship began to take shape. Dorrie was already passionately committed to her call to missions, so the topic always entered any discussion we had about the possibility of a future together. She knew I was planning on full-time ministry, but my assertion of being ‘open’ to overseas ministry was not good enough for her. In the summer of 1973, following my Alliance Youth Corps trip to Mali and Burkina Faso, I told her God had used the trip to confirm a missions’ calling in my life as well, so she was free to agree to my marriage proposal.
Preliminary Preparation
In those days, Alliance IW candidates were required to serve in a church or pastoral ministry for a minimum of two years before being given their international ministry assignment. We stretched the minimum and served for eight years in Manitoba, first in a two-point charge in the farming communities of Poplar Point and Oakville, and then by planting the Alliance church in Virden. Our three oldest kids were born in Manitoba.
In 1982 we headed back to Regina so I could complete my Masters in Missiology. When we were finally appointed to Mali in April 1984, Dr. Arnold Cook quipped about how he felt obligated to appoint us then so we could have at least one term of international ministry before we retired.
Our next step was learning French, which we did at the Université Laval in Quebec City. We loved Quebec City and made many great friends there, had a lot of fun, and even learned some French along the way! The province of Quebec holds a special place in our hearts.
Finally, Mali 1985-99
Our family of five arrived in Mali at the beginning of August 1985, smack dab in the middle of the best rainy season the country had seen for many years. We spent a few days in Bamako, Mali’s capital, and then at our Mission’s headquarters in Koutiala for some orientation. In what looked like it might be a few days break between rains, our co-worker Barb from Sanekuy, where we would be living, came to pick us up. We packed all our stuff into the back of her double cab Toyota Hilux, and the six of us crowded into the two seats for what is usually a two-and-a-half-hour trip.
We left Koutiala in bright sunshine, but I guess God wanted us to experience right off the bat what the rainy season in Mali is like. There was a downpour in the Sanekuy area which rendered the road pretty much impassable. We got stuck about twelve kilometres from Sanekuy just as dusk was setting in. As we attempted to get the vehicle free, I had decided that I would go barefoot rather than ruin my leather shoes in the mud and water. Bad decision! While helping to push the truck, I felt a burning sensation in my foot like I had stepped on a burning ember, which of course, since we were in a few inches of water, was not possible. I mentioned it to Barb, who nonchalantly said the village men who had come to help us had just killed a scorpion; I must have been stung. Scorpion stings are seldom fatal unless one is allergic to the venom, but I would not wish the pain I experienced for the next twenty-four hours on anyone!
Our excitement as a family at finally being ‘home’ in Sanekuy was tempered by the dread we were facing in having to leave our two daughters, then ages nine and seven, at the International Christian Academy in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. Neither homeschooling nor putting our kids into a local school were options in those days. Saying goodbye to our girls and leaving them in their dorm that day was one of the most challenging things we have ever experienced in our lives. It did not get any easier as the years went by.
New Names
We were immediately accepted into the lives and culture of the Bwa community, both in the village of Sanekuy and by the leadership of the four church districts with which we were partnering. Shortly after our arrival, all the pastors from the four districts gathered for a three-day meeting in Sanekuy. They invited us as a family to join them to be officially introduced as their missionaries.
Pastor AbedNego, the president of the Tominian district where we would eventually live, welcomed us and then told us we were now part of the Bwa community, and so they wanted to give us Bo names. Then they proceeded to give us new names and explained their meanings. We were absolutely astounded with how well the names they gave us fit our personalities and giftings, even though they had no way of knowing this apart from seeking the Holy Spirit for guidance, which they assured us they had done. To this day, we are known as Tan’ere and Demuchiri by our Bwa friends in Mali.
Learning Bomu
Though French is the official language in Mali, it is not well understood or spoken by most village people in the rural areas. If we were going to adequately proclaim the Gospel and communicate with our new Bwa friends, we would need to learn their heart language, Bomu. So, language learning was our primary task for the first two years of our first term. There was no language school nor any organized classes for us to attend, so Barb, as our language supervisor, helped us find language informants who would assist us using the barefoot language-learning approach. We would meet for an hour or two each day with our informants to get vocabulary and help in figuring out the grammar. Then we would be expected to try it out with the village people.
Bomu is a tonal language, so it is not easy to learn. There was a lot of laughing at and with us at some of the mistakes we made. As we progressed in our ability, Barb would arrange opportunities to do short public presentations to different groups of people.
Dorrie:
My first speaking assignment was to share a Bible lesson with the teenage girls in the girls’ school run by the Sanekuy church district. I decided to prepare a lesson using the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. At the time, I was pregnant with our youngest daughter, it was sweltering in the crowded classroom, and the only light was from a small kerosene lamp. I was extremely nervous and felt like I had done very poorly in my pronunciation and especially being on tone. But at the end of my presentation, I felt led to invite any of the girls who wanted to become followers of Jesus to come forward so Barb and I could pray for them. I was astounded when more than twenty girls came forward.
Dennis:
I joked with our Bwa friends, saying Bomu is undoubtedly the language spoken in Heaven because it would take me all of eternity to learn it!
Feeding Hungry Tummies Results in Hunger for God
Our arrival in Mali was at the end of a very severe drought and famine, resulting in a great deal of physical hunger in Bwa country. In response to this need, the Mali Alliance mission had partnered with CAMA Services (C&MA relief and development agency) and World Relief, who designed a Food for Work program to respond to the crisis. The project was to repair, and in some cases totally rebuild, the twenty-seven-kilometre road from Sanekuy to Tominian. Family representatives would work for a certain number of days and then receive a sack of millet or corn for their work. The grain was sent to Mali by the Canadian Food Grains Bank. Not only were hungry tummies fed, but our main road out of Sanekuy was being significantly improved.
In this project, the real God story was how it opened a spiritual hunger in the lives of many who previously were distrustful of Christians and the God they served. As non-believers were invited to come and work to obtain food for their families, they experienced the love of Jesus and responded to it. There was a significant spiritual harvest in Bwa country as the famine came to an end.
What? No Old Testament?
The next time you are trying to choose which one of the 450 English translations of the Bible to read from, think about Mali. Ethnologue (the ultimate source of knowledge on the world’s languages) counts over 80 languages there, 13 of which are considered official national languages. There are less than 10 of these languages with a complete translation of the Scriptures. Many languages do not yet have even portions of the Bible available.
When we arrived in Sanekuy, we found out, though there were two translations of the New Testament in Bomu, there was no Bomu Old Testament. The pastors did their best at translating Old Testament stories and passages from French or Bambara for their sermons, but there was a definite dearth of Old Testament teaching and knowledge in the churches. God placed a heavy burden on the heart of our fellow Canadian co-worker, Rose Nickel, to see the Old Testament translated into Bomu.
As we prayed together as a team, we felt it was time to present the need to the district leaders and gauge their interest. They were entirely on board. Rose got some linguistic training through Wycliffe while the district leaders appointed a young Bomu speaking man who had just graduated from university with a Masters in Linguistics, and a young pastor fluent in French and Bomu to work with Rose on the translation team.
The United Bible Society agreed to sponsor the project and eventually publish the Bible. I was invited to serve on the oversight committee as a consultant. It was a long and tedious project with several setbacks. Finally, in 2015 we accompanied Rose back to Mali for the unveiling and dedication of the complete Bible in Bomu. What a joyful and God-honouring event!
Christ, Our Healer
Just over two years into our first term, our fourth child was born at the Baptist Mission hospital in Côte d’Ivoire, one day after we dropped off all three of our older children at their school in Bouake. We were, of course, overjoyed. Having this sweet little one in our home helped to lessen the pain of missing our other three kids.
When Marian was about eighteen months old, she became ill with severe vomiting and diarrhea. After a few days of trying various treatments to no avail and watching our little girl become more and more dehydrated, our nurse co-workers suggested we head for the Baptist hospital in Côte d’Ivoire. They did not tell us at the time, but they suspected cholera and were extremely concerned for her survival. The trip would take a minimum of nine hours, so we packed up as quickly as we could and travelled to Koutiala, where our Mission headquarters is located. Because it was getting dark, our field director advised us to spend the night in the guest house and get an early start for the remainder of the trip in the morning. This turned out to be God-inspired advice, as the next morning, about an hour out of Koutiala, my vehicle began to act up. The gas filter was faulty. I was able to coax it to run for short periods and made it to Sikasso, where, thankfully, we could purchase a new gas filter and keep travelling.
Pastor AbedNego and other Christ-followers back in Tominian had prayed for Marian’s healing and protection as we left the day before, and we knew everyone else who was aware of the situation was praying as well. We watched our baby’s health digress, and, with a broken heart, Dorrie prayed, Father, You know how much we love our little girl and what a blessing she is to us, but if You want to take her to be with you….”
Shortly after, Dorrie noticed a difference in Marian’s demeanour. She was drinking fluids more easily and even began to smile and talk a bit. By the time we arrived at the hospital, she was pretty alert. A former nurse colleague from Mali met us as we drove up to the hospital and asked why we were there. As we explained the situation, she looked at Marian and said, “Well, I can see she has been sick but let’s get her in and have the doctor look at her.” The diagnosis was a very severe gastro infection. She was put on an appropriate antibiotic, and we were able to travel back to Mali a few days later with a healthy, happy little girl. Indeed, Christ is our Healer!
Move to Tominian
Between the third and fourth years of our first term, we moved to Tominian, working towards partnering with the two northern districts to reach the more than two hundred remaining unreached villages in the region. The district allowed us to temporarily convert their brand-new youth centre into living quarters, though we would have no running water, indoor washroom facilities, and no electricity. This was a bit challenging with a baby. However, it was a blessing to live right across the street from Pastor AbedNego and his family. AbedNego and Abiza very patiently mentored us in our continued learning of both the language and the culture. Relationships are everything in the Malian culture. The time we spent together with them, developing a deep friendship, proved invaluable to our ministry.
In the ensuing months, we collaborated with the local and district church leaders in many different areas. Dorrie was actively involved in the local women’s group, spoke in district women’s conferences, and taught in the Tominian Sunday school. We regularly visited churches throughout the region on the weekends; I would often preach, though our main objective was to get to know and encourage the pastors and their families. I also helped to facilitate a regional pastors’ seminar and, of course, joined the evangelism teams on their evangelistic forays to villages where there were not yet believers. We also began construction of our future home during those months.
A Huge Disappointment
We left for home assignment ready for a change of pace and excited to re-engage with family and friends in Canada. But we were also really anticipating our second term back in Tominian. As we prepared for our return, we dreamed, strategized, and set objectives for continuing our partnership with the districts. Also, we were pumped to be able to move into our new house!
Unfortunately, when we arrived in Bamako to begin our second term, our colleague met us at the airport bearing exceedingly difficult news. A major dispute had erupted between the National Church Association, made up of thirteen districts representing at least seven major ethnic groups and the four Bwa districts. The National Church Association had made a major decision with which the Bwa districts strongly disagreed. As a result, the Bwa church leaders rescinded their membership in the association and formed their own federation of churches. Because our Mission had a formal partnership with the National Church Association, we were informed we could not continue serving the Bwa districts that were now branded as rebels. We were absolutely devastated! But we believed surely such a church split could be only the work of the Enemy, and God would prevail. So, we held on to hope and prayed desperately. However, reconciliation was not immediately forthcoming; we were redeployed to Bamako for a time and then to the city of Sikasso, where we were asked to learn Bambara, the national trade language.
Despite the shroud of discouragement hanging over us for the next four years as we attempted to remain faithful to our calling and commitment to living out and proclaiming the Gospel, our faithful God provided us with some reassuring ministry opportunities. We had redeployed from what had been a spiritually responsive region to a much more resistant area. In fact, Sikasso was the city where Alliance missionaries first established a beachhead for the Gospel in Mali back in 1923. The first mission house was still standing on the same site where the Sikasso central church functioned.
For over sixty years, the proclamation of the Gospel had produced minimal fruit in Sikasso and the surrounding area. Thankfully, this began to change in the 1980s with a heightened response to the good news of the Gospel. After spending several months learning Bambara, we collaborated with both the Sikasso city church and the Sikasso district in their ministries.
During our stay, we had the privilege of witnessing the establishment of two new congregations in the city, bringing the total number of churches in this city of one hundred and fifty thousand people to three. Dorrie and a Dutch colleague were asked to provide Sunday school teacher training for the district churches. Dorrie also began a kids’ club in our yard for neighbourhood kids and had the privilege of leading a teenage boy to the Lord. We still hear from him.
As I had done in Bwa country during the second half of our first term, I focused much of my ministry on providing logistical support for the district evangelism teams in their forays to unreached villages with the JESUS film. Each year the district would determine which villages they wanted to target.
Typically, on arrival in a village, we would go first to the village chief’s home.
We would officially ask permission to have an outdoor gathering in the village centre if prior arrangements had not already been made. The gathering would include singing, preaching, and culminate with showing the JESUS film, after which there was always an ‘altar call.’ In villages where people decided to follow the Jesus way, the pastor or catechist from the closest church would be assigned to provide follow-up and discipleship. If there was a large response, a catechist or pastor moved to the village to lead the new church as soon as possible. Once we had the projector screen (often a white sheet on a mud or cement wall) set up, we would sit and visit with our hosts while waiting for the evening meal and for darkness to descend so we could show the film.
On one occasion, I had a large group of kids crowded around my chair and was joking around with them. I pushed my upper denture out with my tongue, expecting they would be frightened and run away. The joke was on me. They got really excited and started shouting, “Miracle! The white man did a miracle!” From then on, I was known as the miracle missionary in those parts.
Three weeks before we were to leave for our second home assignment, our field director contacted me and said I was being called to a meeting in Sanekuy. He did not know any details. I arrived to find the newly elected National Church president and his committee were there to meet with the Bwa Church federation committee. I had been invited as a witness. When President Timothy was given the floor, he stated he and his committee had come to end the ‘fight’ and seek reconciliation with the four districts. Even though he had not been in leadership when the schism happened, he took full responsibility and asked the Bwa leaders to forgive him. Though the atmosphere remained tense at times throughout the day, the Holy Spirit was at work, and by the end of the day, full reconciliation had been attained. I will never forget the scene as forgiveness, tears, and hugs flowed freely. We moved our belongings back to Tominian and stored them in our new house, awaiting our return in a year. I re-learned a valuable lesson about the value of humility and obeying God’s voice.
I mentioned already Alliance missionaries first entered Mali in 1923; at the time of writing, a one hundredth anniversary celebration is being planned for 2023.
Saturation Evangelism
We arrived back in Tominian in the summer of 1995, extremely thankful to be back in Bwa country. The adage ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ certainly proved true in this instance as we were able to pick up our relationships right where we left them years earlier.
Remember the dreams, vision, and strategies I said we had for our second term in Tominian? Well, everything on our list for our second-term partnership with the districts had been accomplished under the direction of the Holy Spirit, with God’s enablement, and without us! They had started their own Bible school, worked hard at strengthening the already established churches, and continued evangelizing and church planting in the unreached villages. We quickly understood our role for the next four years, to submit to their leadership and collaborate with them to reach their objectives. The mutual trust we already had between us made this easy to do.
The districts felt a need for Sunday school teacher training and curricular development, both of which Dorrie was passionate about. She was able to translate and publish two years’ worth of materials. She was also asked to begin a Bible study group in French with the youth chorale in the Tominian church. In addition, she had a small group of girls to whom she told Bible stories and taught sewing. One of the joys we had during our third term was both of us being asked to teach in their new Bible school. It was incredibly fulfilling for us to have a part in training the young pastors and wives who would lead the many new churches being planted in the region.
One big change from our first term in Tominian was the JESUS film, a major tool used by the evangelism teams, produced in the Bomu language. It was amazing to see the response of the villagers as they heard Jesus speak Bomu! As we closed in on the end of the term, the Federation leaders proudly announced every village in the region had been presented the opportunity to hear the Gospel, with many villages joyfully accepting, which resulted in churches being planted. This brings us back to the story at the beginning of this chapter. We prepared for our third home assignment knowing our task among the Bwa had been completed. By the way, at the dedication ceremonies for the Bomu Bible in 2015, it was reported a full forty-five percent of the population of the Bwa region were professing Christians. Wow!
Impacting Niger 2001-2005
At the conclusion of our meeting with Ron one afternoon in Calgary during the General Assembly, we agreed together we would take ample time to seek God and discern His will regarding the idea of beginning an outreach to the Tamajek peoples. As Ron and we prayed through the fall and winter months, we did indeed sense the Spirit’s prompting to move forward with this idea.
Ron suggested he and I make an exploratory trip to where the Tuareg live, which we did at Easter time, 2001. We took separate flights to Africa, but we were to meet in the airport of the legendary Timbuktu in northern Mali. Yes, it is a real place!
Did you know Timbuktu was cited by A.B. Simpson as a place to which the Gospel should be taken in the very beginning years of the Alliance? It was part of what became Simpson’s Niger vision, written about in a book by that name by his compatriot, R.S. Roseberry. Simpson’s vision to see the Gospel proclaimed to those who had never heard in the bends and winding flow of the Niger River was one step closer to reality.
Ron and I felt like we were stepping into another world as we passed the police checkpoint into the city that morning. There we were graciously hosted by Baptist missionaries who had an active ministry to the Tamajek people; we discussed the possibility of partnering with them. They welcomed us to do so. We then flew on SIMAir (SIM Mission airplane), a little four-seater Cessna, to Niamey, Niger, where there is a large Tamajek population. Our time in Niamey included meetings with existing mission groups as well as visiting a small Tamajek group of Jesus followers.
One Mission leader told us he had been praying for years that the Alliance would come to Niger! After more prayer and evaluation of what we had learned on our exploratory trip, the decision was made for us to be appointed to Niamey, Niger, to research the need for and means of establishing an Alliance presence amongst Tamajek-speaking peoples in the region.
Dorrie:
While Dennis was able to do his research and administrative work using French, I decided to attempt learning Tamajek so I would be able to communicate with the women in their heart language. A Wycliffe worker kindly offered to introduce me to some lovely women who lived in grass huts in vacant lots. We immediately bonded, and they were eager to help me learn their language. Tamajek proved to be even more challenging to learn than Bomu. As our relationships grew, I was able to begin a sewing and craft class with them.
Sometimes God chooses to use difficult scenarios in our lives to accomplish His purposes. I underwent skin cancer surgery on my face and was told by the doctor I needed to stay home as much as possible and not expose the wound to the dust and excess heat. In order to be able to continue to see my friends, I decided to invite them to my home, which then allowed me to share my testimony with them in very stammering Tamajek and show the JESUS film in Tamajek. I am still praying for these dear ladies’ salvation.
Dennis:
It did not take us long to realize the needs among the Tuareg were many. But we also discovered quickly, these deeply devoted Muslims would never become followers of Jesus through the more traditional methods of evangelism which had worked so well in Bwa country. It was essential for us to establish trust through compassion and relationship building, and it would all take time. It would mean a lot of what a colleague coined as a ‘ministry of hanging out.’ However, it also required finding ways to meet real and felt needs. Most of the Tamajek in the city had migrated from further north and east in the country and were basically living a refugee lifestyle. We knew we would not be able to do this alone, so we began praying for and inviting others to join our team.
One of the things I kept hearing from other mission leaders as I continued researching and strategizing was, “Don’t forget the Fulani.” It was clear God was also calling us to establish a ministry to this large unreached group. Barry Newman was appointed by Alliance Canada to join us and spearhead the Fulani outreach. Lisa Rohrick redeployed from Benin to be part of the Fulani team as well. Sandra Scott came over from Mali to take on our financial and administrative duties.
Due to some personal health and family challenges, we regretfully left Niger after only one term to continue ministry in Canada. We are encouraged to know the Tamajek and Fulani people of Niger are part of the ‘vast crowd from every nation and tribe and people and language’ who will stand in front of the throne and before the Lamb one glorious day! And the Lord continues to use the gifted team who have followed us to help make that happen for the Tamajek and Fulani of Niger.
Mobilization 2005-Present
On our return to Canada, God graciously led me to a missions’ pastor role at RockPointe Church in Calgary, which allowed us to continue to pursue our passion for seeing the Gospel proclaimed to the least-reached peoples of our world. One of my early delights in the role was recruiting Kristi Hopf to the Niger team and mentoring her through the application and preparation processes. She is serving well on the Fulani team.
Dorrie and I were able to lead some RockPointe short-term mission teams to Niger. I was also privileged to journey with several other individuals or couples as they prepared for international ministries around the world. Under my tenure, by God’s grace, RockPointe’s Global Advance Fund reached the ten percent of ministry funds goal.
In 2013, I was encouraged by Ron Brown to take the Kairos Course. I did and immediately became an avid advocate of the course. Both Dorrie and I trained as facilitators and have served as such together in several courses. I also became a head-facilitator and have led or co-led twelve facilitation teams since 2014. When I left my role at RockPointe in 2019, over seventy RockPointers had been through the Kairos course, including eighty percent of our pastoral staff and all the IWs serving worldwide in partnership with RockPointe Church. Even in my current transitional pastoring role, Dorrie and I still emphasize mobilizing the church to actively work towards fulfilling the Great Commission.
None of this story would have happened without the unconditional love and enduring faithfulness of our loving Heavenly Father. To Him be glory and honour forever. Amen.
This is an excerpt from the book, On Mission Volume 2. Download your free copy today.