Mark  

Raised the son of Baptist missionaries in Southern Africa, I graduated from Samford University and worked several jobs before being given a strong desire to do missions. I grew up believing that I was saved until one night in my twenties when I was confronted with the difference between what I professed to believe and the way I was living.  God graciously saved me that night.  I continued in different jobs including catering, social work, real estate, and the newspaper business, but I was dissatisfied with my life. I wasn’t sure what the Lord had for us.  In July 2006, I went on a short-term mission trip with my church and To Every Tribe Ministries.  To Every Tribe’s passion and vision was amazing and God immediately gave me a desire to work with them.  When I returned, I told Belinda what God was doing in my life and prepared to give her plenty of time to adjust. But God had been working in her heart and she was ready almost immediately to begin pursuing the dream.  We moved to Los Fresnos, Texas in January 2007 to attend the Center for Pioneer Church Planting (CPCP).  My first mission trip was to Paupa New Guinea (PNG) and I immediately fell in love with the people and the country. From that time there has been little doubt in my mind that we would eventually serve in PNG.

Belinda

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and at age 7 moved with my family to Hong Kong in 1979 when my parents became missionaries. At age 18, I came back for college. Although I was baptized at the age of 9, I realized in 1996 that I was not saved and I became a true believer that night. After 12 years of waiting, Mark and I found out we were expecting our first child.  Bradley was born in February 2004. Fifteen months later, we were expecting AGAIN.  Erin was born in December 2005. The girls have brought great joy to our lives and our desire is to raise them in the Word, hoping that they will someday become a part of His Kingdom. Mark shared how quickly the Lord worked in my heart about full-time missions, but I had some real-time adjusting to do when two months later I had left the green hills of Birmingham, my job of 9 years, my parents and siblings, my dogs, my house, and my church for flat, semi-tropical south Texas.  God is faithful!  Bradley and Erin adjusted beautifully, always believing that “home” is wherever Mommy and Daddy are—even when our family spent 7 weeks in a tent in southern Mexico!  We encountered snakes, scorpions, spiders, iguanas, and mice, but the girls were unperturbed, calling the tent “home” and giving us an immediate kinship with the parents of the village kids.  Last year I took a dental training course. I learned to clean out dental decay and fill cavities using non-powered hand instruments that do not require anesthesia. The process is virtually painless for the patient. I used my training on a trip to Mexico and will be taking my dental equipment with me to Paupa New Guinea (PNG), hoping to serve the people there. As we look ahead to our move to PNG, I am excited and scared at the same time. I know there will be hardship, but that’s all right. I know that home-schooling our girls will be difficult at times, but I’m prepared to do my best. I know that we will have to totally depend on God, but we’re supposed to do that anyway, right?
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