December 3

Hello! This is Susan F. My husband and I are missionaries living and ministering to the needy on the border of Texas and Mexico, in the Rio Grande Valley.

I have always loved studying, especially the Word of God. I received an associate’s degree to become an RDH in 1987, during my 25-year career in the dental field. Then in 2017, I received a BA in Ministry from PTBI.

Born into a wonderful Christian home in Washington State, I was very blessed to be taught about the things of God from early childhood. I have loved Jesus ever since I can remember. When I was nine, my parents became foreign missionaries. They took our family on a summer trip to the interior of Mexico. While visiting there, I completely fell in love with the country, the people, the language, and the culture!

My earliest role in ministry was as a Sunday School teacher at the age of 17. I discovered a love and gift for teaching. It was during high school that I felt a call to the mission field, like my parents.

I met and married Kim, my first husband and the father of our four children, at age 19 in Seattle while we were attending Bible school. After a year, we made a poor decision to end our studies prematurely in response to a call to minister as paid staff for his home church. Unfortunately, we were not yet equipped properly to succeed, and that did not end well.

In later years, we did minister together in the various churches where our family attended. We were tested and tried over decades with problems, but especially so when my husband developed cancer, which recurred years later. After a very long and difficult time of disability, he passed away at only 53 years old. So, in 2012, I found myself a widow, left alone with our autistic 12-year-old son.

Although I had never given up hope to answer the call from my youth, it wasn’t until after Wayne and I were married in 2019 that God provided the means and opportunity to enter full-time ministry. The next year, Wayne and I felt compelled one evening to answer the biblical call to “go.” And so, like Abraham, we decided to obey, stepping out totally in faith. After retiring in 2021, we sold our home in the Dallas area, said goodbye to family, and made our way 550 miles south.

Many adventures ensued over the next four years! We have learned a lot about ministry, too often the hard way. It has not been easy ministering in a totally different culture and in a foreign language. But God has always been faithful, even during times of discouragement and setbacks.

Our ministry began primarily by finding ways to love those in the church and community who were in need of love the most, and that in the most practical ways possible. Secondarily, we came alongside other ministries who were actively serving God, to encourage and support them. At times this has seemed a humanly impossible task, making our “Mission to Love” seem more like “Mission Impossible”! But somehow, God has given us grace to stay faithful to the vision and keep plugging away.

In recent years, we have been privileged to become leaders of a blossoming ministry which includes a bustling area-wide bulk food distribution routine, weekly home discipleship/Bible study meetings, youth outreach in our neighborhood, and most importantly, early morning intercessory prayer with our faithful team on video chat six days a week.

The answers to prayer have been astounding! We are now beginning to see some of the rewards of our labors with increasing numbers of souls coming to Christ and new believers maturing. It’s been the adventure of a lifetime!

With our ongoing training at Christian Leaders Institute, we hope to become yet more effective in our ministry as a couple. My husband and I are both studying with the goal of becoming ordained ministers. Starting with the Wedding and Funeral Officiant training, I have since been able to finish studies up to the Ordained Minister level, for which I praise God.

We are thankful for CLI, as it enables us to continue to minister full-time and conserve more of our limited resources to help with the pressing needs of others.