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Our Story

Bonnie Ruth

At age four, I believe the Spirit began His work by opening my eyes to my own sinfulness. Though I didn’t fully understand my depravity, or the grace which was offered me, I believe at that point I embraced the simple facts of personal sin, a loving Heavenly Father, a crucified and risen Son, and the forgiveness promised to those who repent, believe and are baptized.

Leading up to the present, a few periods of time stand out in my mind as pivotal in my spiritual growth. The first of these came at the age of eight, after listening to a missions presentation at church. I remember the immense burden and deep desire to spread the gospel to those who had never heard. After this time, most of my future goals in life had to do with pioneer missions.  When I was fifteen, my family started attending Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. I look back on those teen years as a time of increased desire to know God, to read good biographies, and to prepare for whatever ministry He had for me. As a part of my preparation, I entered college in 1995 and graduated four years later with a degree in Church Music. In 2001, I also received an M.A. in Theology.

Jeremy and I met and were good friends for two years before it ever occurred to either of us that the Lord might have more in store for us. As we talked about life, missions, family backgrounds, music, books, philosophy of ministry, etc., we realized that God in His sovereignty had intricately molded two of His children to fit together perfectly. In March of 2003, we married.

In August of 2004, we moved to Dunbar, WI so that Jeremy could teach Bible at Northland International University while he completed his dissertation. Though Northland was an unforeseen “detour” from our previous plans, the philosophy and the people we encountered there have sharpened us in areas that we didn’t even realize needed sharpening. God has used our time at NIU to plant in our hearts seeds of love for other people. By His grace, those seeds are growing and we trust that the lessons learned here will help us better serve the people of Cambodia.

Along the way, the Lord blessed our home with Abigail Frances, Isobel Faith, Gloria Evangeline, and Eden Carmichael. They are our “little disciples” (or more accurately, “mischievous disciples”!), and our prayer for them is that their Maker will grant them hearts that embrace the biblical vision of His all-encompassing Kingdom.

We are thrilled with the small glimpses of the new dawn that is set before us as a family. To know we are being sent by the King of Kings to proclaim the Good News that He has conquered ALL things—even sin and death!—to a people that will someday bow the knee and proclaim Him as such—what a joy!

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