Buzz & Ruthie Curtis; Central Thailand

The Curtises have been involved in church planting with OMF International since 1980. Recently, their ministry has focused on young adults. They founded the Peace Church in Saraburi, which is now assisting in leadership training and church planting in the Buddhist society around them. Saraburi, with 14 churches, is one of 76 provinces needing serious transformation in every way.

Jerry & Iris Hagelin, Tucson Child Evangelism Fellowship

Jerry is the Arizona State Director for Child Evangelism Fellowship, a Bible-centered, worldwide organization of Christians whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, disciple them in the Word of God and establish them in a Bible believing church for Christian living. Jerry and Iris organize and train leaders to run neighborhood and school Bible studies, and are also active themselves in leading Bible studies for children in Tucson schools.

Mark & Becky Leighton, Central Thailand

Since 1986 the Leightons with their three sons—Peter (1979), Andrew (1982) and John (1985)—have been part of the church-planting team in Thailand. They have brought two churches to independence from resident missionary help, and these churches are now actively involved in helping share the gospel and planting other churches in nearby towns. Becky was involved in teaching English as a bridge to evangelism, as well as helping other missionaries establish programs. Mark was teaching intensive Bible study to church leaders for leadership development in several churches. He is the regional director for OMF’s Central Thailand work and has helped form five new church-planting teams.

Mike & Erin Pettengill, La Ceiba, Honduras

Mike and Erin Pettengill are new MTW missionaries who are starting a new work in La Ceiba, Honduras, a Central American Caribbean port city with a population of over 150,000. There are 180,000 orphans in Honduras, and two thirds of the people live in poverty, the second highest poverty rate in the Western Hemisphere. Mike has been an elder in a PCA church in California for seven years, where he served as an evangelism instructor and the director of the youth group. Erin is a pediatric RN and is certified as a Disaster Response Worker. Their primary focus in La Ceiba will be church planting, with a heavy emphasis on medical and mercy ministries, with the ultimate goal of establishing a medical clinic. Erin will also serve as a Disaster Relief Worker for MTW, responding to worldwide disasters. They are currently doing their full-time MTW language training in San Jose, Costa Rica, and intend to move to Honduras upon completion of the nine-month course. They have one daughter, Madison.

Luciano and Luciene Pires, Goiania, Brazil

Luciano and Luciene returned to Brazil in 2002 after completing degrees at Covenant Theological Seminary. Luciano received an M.Div. and Th.M. while Luciene earned an MA in Theological Studies. They operate a home-based Christian Institute called Colloquium in Goiania, Brazil, a city of 1.2 million people with over 20 universities which are home to about 65,000 students. Their mission at Colloquium is to present the truth of the Gospel in a way that will challenge the hearts and minds of this generation, aiming as a result to reach out to nonbelievers and to equip Christians to live all of life under the Lordship of Christ. Since the ministry started, they have had over 5,000 students in their home for lectures, discussions, meals and movie nights. Their second annual Colloquium Conference in 2007 attracted 350 people. They hope one day to open a Center for Theological Education through Colloquium to serve Brazilians and leaders from Portuguese-speaking countries, and they have very recently been joined by two good friends who will be helping them with that part of the ministry. Lu and Lu have two young children, Mila and Pedro.

Joel and Jessica Rinn, Ferrara, Italy

Joel graduated from Covenant Seminary with an M.Div. in 2003 and is ordained in the International Presbyterian Church, a small European denomination. Jessica has a BA in Bible Theology and is a native Italian. Jessica does translating and editing work for a Reformed publishing house in Italy called Alfa & Omega. After spending three years in the city of Ferrara, Joel and Jessica are now in the city of Verona, where they intend to plant a gospel-centered Presbyterian church. Verona is a fairly large city in northern Italy best known as the hometown of Romeo and Juliet. They have four children: Nicolas, Emeline, Anaelle, and Etienne.

John and Cathy Rug (MTW) Viña del Mar, Chile

The Rugs have been involved in church-planting in Chile since 1986. Currently they are working with the Viña del Mar church planting effort. They minister the gospel to some of Chile’s “disposable” peoples, including the blind and deaf. In order to facilitate a church-planting movement that includes this largely overlooked group of disabled people, the Rugs minister to them, their relatives, and friends through a special project called CEMIPRE. This is a resource center for the uniquely-abled, in cooperation with the church-planting effort, helping the body of believers cross special needs barriers with the gospel of Christ. They have 4 children: Ana, Elena, Benjamin, and Juanita.

Dean and Filly Saxton, (La Vita House) Tucson, Arizona

The Saxtons are directors of the La Vita House, a ministry to University and college students just blocks away from the University of Arizona and the downtown Pima Community College campuses. La Vita House exists to engage and to reach the University culture by challenging students with the truth of God, the love of God, and the Person of Jesus Christ in a home-based setting. The La Vita House provides housing for around 30 students, including a growing group of international students. The activities include Monday Night Dinners with a brief devotional and prayer time, lecture series, movie nights and discussions. These events provide opportunities for students to come in a warm and welcoming environment to ask honest questions about the issues of life and to hear about the relevancy of Christ and the gospel for all areas of life. The Saxtons have four children, Dean, Dominic, Daniel, and Juliet.

Parker and Ashley Tenent (RUF) Tucson, Arizona

Parker and Ashley Tenent serve on the campus of the University of Arizona where Parker is the campus minister for the Reformed University Fellowship group. The Tenents seek to reach students for Christ and to equip them to serve on the campus and in the church. Specifically, they aim to promote the students’ growth in grace by helping them understand and use the means of grace that God has given them, such as Bible study, a consistent prayer life, and involvement in a local church. They are committed to evangelism and missions on the university campus, and to helping students to develop a Biblical worldview in the face of the social, intellectual and spiritual challenges they face daily at a secular academic institution. These goals are pursued through multiple weekly large and small group Bible and discussion studies, and through individual discipleship. The Tenents have a son, Parker II.

Ron and Peg Smith, Caribbean

After ten years of church planting in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Ron and Peg recently accepted God’s call to minister in Trinidad and other English-speaking islands of the Caribbean. Their ministries include training pastors and church planters, mentoring, challenging and encouraging leaders as they develop strategies for communicating the gospel and growing the church. They have two children: Allison and Benjamin.

Dan and Becky Young, El Paso, Texas

The Youngs work with MTW and Border Evangelism and Mercy Ministries– BEAMM and started Gracia y Paz mission in Mexico in 1997. Dan currently teaches and train in San Pablo Seminary in Juarez and in church plants along the border. Their focus is planting churches on both sides of the border with Dan helping to train and mentor pastors and leaders, and Becky supporting with discipleship and counseling. They have 4 children: Benjamin, Will, Rachel, and Lisa.