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Policy
Because it is very difficult
to be in a full-time traveling ministry in Canada within one denomination,
we have ministered with every evangelical denomination in Canada, plus some!
When we began ministering in the US, we did the same. Our doctrinal views
on some things may differ, but we present the simple gospel
which should be the same in any
evangelical church. Our policy is to minister in only evangelical churches
if it is an outreach event, but if it is inhouse,
we go anywhere they will let us present the gospel; we reason that the
gospel is needed everywhere.
Wayne’s Background
I was born into a Christian
family in Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, and went forward at special meetings in
our church at the age of 5. Shortly after that my dad became bitter toward
the Lord when his favorite brother died at a very
young age from an ulcer and we didn’t go to church for several years. Then
we were invited to a children’s crusade with Evangelist Joe Gallop at the
Baptist Church. My brother, sister and I went, and continued going to
Sunday School there. Later my mother and baby sister came, and several
years later, my dad finally came with us. You can see why children’s
ministry means so much to me, since my family came back to church
because of it!
As I grew older, my faith
dimmed, but in my teens I met Suzanne, a missionaries’ kid who wouldn’t
date me unless I was a Christian. So, I rededicated my life to make sure,
and shortly after that, by “fluke”, otherwise known as God’s
plan, I was elected president of the Inter School Christian Fellowship.
That last year of high school, the ISCF became the fastest-growing club in
the school, and I grew spiritually along with it as I led them in outreach
and fellowship activities.
I didn’t really have a plan
after high school, and my youth pastor encouraged me to attend Bible
college, so
I went to Northwest Baptist Theological College, where Suzanne also came
the next year. I finished the 3-year program before marrying her in 1972.
We were both working full
time, but were very active in our church, and really interested in some
kind of full-time ministry. We just didn’t know what. Then one day I was
asked to tell a children’s story in the morning service, and they liked it
so much, we were asked to organize a week of special children’s meetings.
That went so well, and blessed us so much, that I tried to line up meetings
in other churches FREE, but only another small church where we had worked
during college days agreed to have us! No one wanted a greenhorn. That week a ventriloquist friend of mine
came on Friday and the attendance doubled, so I decided I’d better learn
how to do that.
Then we heard from the
president of our college that a small children’s organization, Children’s
Evangelistic Association was looking for a replacement for their retiring
evangelist, Joe Gallop
(the man who God used to bring our family back to church). We
were accepted in the fall, and with letters of introduction and
recommendation from the organization, we were able to begin full-time
ministry the next summer. We have ministered either full or part-time ever
since then, with our children joining us on the road from 1985-96.
In Canada it would be almost
impossible to minister full-time as an evangelist in one denomination, so
we have been in every evangelical denomination in Canada. We may not agree
upon every point of doctrine, but we stick to a simple gospel message that
is acceptable in any evangelical setting.
Suzanne’s Background
I am the daughter of
missionaries to Liberia, W. Africa. I was born in a mud brick house, 10
miles from the nearest road. Fortunately, my dad was a pilot, as evidenced by his book,
“Jungle Pilot in Liberia”, (a collection of 139 short stories from their
life there), available for $10 Canadian from us. They worked with BMM as
missionaries there for 35 years, then spent 10
years as the Western Missions Representative.
Having heard the gospel story
preached over and over, I gave my life to the Lord at 3 years old. One of
my earliest memories is kneeling by the swing on our front porch to do just
that. The furlough that I was 8, I
also went forward at special meetings to do with our girls’ club.
When I was 12, we came home
on furlough, and settled in Maple Ridge so I could settle into the area
while my parents were still there. My dad’s sister and husband, who
pastured a Baptist church there (the one Wayne attended), had offered to
let me stay with them for high school. That didn’t work out well, so I went
to a home for missionaries’ kids in Wheaton, Illinois, where I fit in just
fine. My teen years were somewhat turbulent, being away from my parents
from 13-17, but I knew Whose I was, and planned to go to Bible college.
I probably would have gone to a Baptist
college in the US, but that last spring I felt led to donate all my savings
to our pastor, who was starting up a Christian school. When I heard that
the cost of Wayne’s college, Northwest Baptist Theological College in
Canada, was only $600 a year (incl. room & board!), I decided to try
it. The Lord allowed me to find a job and I made all I needed in the few
weeks I had there before college began.
Wayne and I renewed our
friendship, and, after 2 years of Bible college and some additional music
training, we were married in 1972.
For the rest, see Wayne’s background. It’s the same!
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