Missionaries
Ric and Frieda Escobar - Florida - OC International
Ken and Brenda Jackson - Texas - Wycliffe Bible Translators
Pat Lackey - Prince Georges County - Child Evangelism Fellowship
Bob and Susie Lawton - Maryland - Fellowship International Missions
Nathan and Dee Leigh - Philippines - Gateway Ministries
Wilfred Matham - South Africa - Evangelical Bible College
Al and Daisy Ortiz - Florida - WorldTeam
Dan and Ginny Bryant - Missouri - training for New Tribes Mission
Dave and Elaine Wilson - Florida - Open Air Campaigners
Baltimore Rescue Mission - Chuck and Janna Buettner
Bowie/Crofton Pregnancy Center view via bowiecroftonpregnancycenter.org
Washington Bible College view via www.bible.edu
Capital Bible Seminary
MEET OUR MISSIONARIES
Ric and Frieda Escobar
Ricardo Escobar was raised in a "typical Catholic home" in Colombia, South America. His family moved to Venezuela when he was 9 years old, then to the U.S. when he was 12. In the States Ric became active in sports and in drugs. He eventually began selling drugs in the Washington, D.C. area even while realizing that his life was becoming a real mess.
Ric was confronted by the gospel of Jesus Christ at a Bible study in 1971. He received Christ at that time, but as time passed forgot his commitment. However, God did not forget about him. In the next two years, Ric found himself facing a 10 year jail sentence after trying to sell cocaine to a Federal Agent. He began to reconsider the reality of God and in December of 1973 renewed his earlier commitment through a simple prayer. He came away from talking to the Lord knowing that he was a new man. God worked circumstances so that Ric was not jailed for the drug charge, but he was deported to Colombia. There he came became involved in the ministry of Campus Crusade, eventually becoming part of their full-time staff. He married his wife, Frieda, in 1977. They began working with Overseas Crusade ministry, now OC International, in the early 1980's. After ministering for several years in Colombia, the Escobars were able to return to live in the United States as God once again intervened and enabled the government to see that Ric's way of life truly had changed from his earlier days. He was granted U.S. citizenship in September of 2000. Ric and Frieda and their two sons, Sam and Dan, currently live in the Miami area where Ric serves as the Latin America area director for OC International. In the last few years Ric has traveled to Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala to meet with national leaders.
Ken and Brenda Jackson - Wycliffe Bible Translators
Brenda became a Christian at a Christian youth meeting when she was about 5 years old. She lived for several years in Colombia, where her parents ministered with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Brenda studied at Lancaster Bible College and Wycliffe's Summer Institute of Linguistics. She married Chet Bitterman, whom she had met in college. They began ministry in Colombia, but in January of 1981, the M19 terrorist group took Chet hostage and eventually executed him. Brenda returned to the U.S. with her two daughters, Anna and Esther. Ken Jackson, who had met Brenda several years earlier, got in touch with her again and they were eventually married. Ken had attended Bryan College; after their marriage, he did an internship in business administration at Wycliffe's International Linguistic Center. For four years Ken and Brenda served at the Pacific Orientation Course for Wycliffe missionaries, helping them to learn the trade language and locating villages where they could learn bush survival skills. They then served as Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea from 1990-1996. By then the family had grown to include Lydia and Deborah as well as Anna and Esther. The Jacksons now live in Duncanville, Texas and are involved in Bible translation and creating videos for various Native American languages.
Al and Daisy Ortiz
Al and Daisy Ortiz are native Puerto Ricans. Al came to know Christ through a Bible study he attended in Columbia, South Carolina in 1968. A few months later Daisy received the Lord. Al studied at Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University) while working at the U.S. Postal Service. After receiving his degree, Al and family began serving the Lord with WorldTeam in the Dominican Republic. In 1990, Al and Daisy began ministering to Hispanic churches in the Miami, Florida area. There are more than one million Hispanics in the Metro-Miami area. Al’s ministry involves bringing pastors together to reach this population, as well as his own discipling of several couples. In the last few years Al has been able to travel to Cuba to meet with church leaders there. Al and Daisy have two grown children, Edwin and Cindy. On-going prayer requests include: Unity of heart and vision for the more than 100 pastors/churches of Mission Miami seeking to reach the Hispanic population of the Miami Area. Encouragement and strength for Daisy who suffers from a chronic health problem.
Dan and Ginny Bryant
The Bryants are a family thankful for who God is and what he has done.
They've seen His goodness in their past. Both were brought up in missionary families, Ginny in Japan and Dan in France. So they heard at a young age that God loves them, and gave Himself for them, so that they could be saved and brought back into the relationship with Him that He has designed.
Ginny lived in Japan until 9th grade, when her parents moved back to the United States. Her family lives near Rochester, New York. She graduated from Cedarville College in 1993 with a degree in elementary education. She then returned to Japan for two years as a missionary English teacher. After returning to the States, she worked as a foster care social worker for two years, in Lancaster, PA.
Meanwhile, Dan had grown up in France, where his parents still reside. Dan attended Duke University and graduated in 1992, having studied civil engineering. Dan found a job in Williamsport, PA, where he worked for three years. During that time he met several New Tribes Mission missionaries and became intrigued by their approach to missions. In 1996 Dan began attending Capital Bible Seminary.
Ginny and Dan first met in France, 11 years before they were married in 1997. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that Dan's eyes were finally opened to realize what a neat woman Ginny is. After they were married, they lived near Washington DC while Dan finished seminary and Ginny taught 5th grade at Lanham Christian School. During that time that they discovered Belcroft Bible Church, which soon became their home.
After graduating from seminary in 1999, they began New Tribes Mission's training program. This includes 2 1/2 years of church planting and linguistic courses. They graduated in December 2001, and plan to move to Ivory Coast in the summer of 2003 after Ginny completes French study.
During their training God entrusted us with two very fun little boys. Elijah was born Jan 27, 2000, and Corbin came along on May 15, 2001. The boys have definitely changed Ginny and Dan's lives, and they are enjoying them a lot.
They want to be involved in bringing the Good News of who God is and what He's done to a group who does not have that knowledge. They expect to be part of a church planting team, and also to translate His Word into the language of the people. Why? Because God deserves the praise of all peoples.
David and Elaine Wilson
Serving with Open Air Campaigners-God called both David and Elaine Wilson into His service when they were in their teens. After they were married, David pursued a career as a commercial airline pilot in their native New Zealand. After a nearly fatal flying accident, David applied for Bible College in the United States. They sold everything and boarded a ship for America. After completing his education at Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University), David began working with Open Air Campaigners in Baltimore, Maryland. He served in India as well as the U.S. In his current capacity of director of OAC, he makes trips to that many countries around the world, where he encourages the OAC staff members and has opportunities to participate in evangelism himself. Dave and Elaine are currently based in Stuart, Florida. They have three grown sons, Stephen, Mark, and James. In addition to supporting Dave in his ministry, Elaine teaches at a Christian School. Some current prayer requests from Wilsons include:
1. God's continual provision, especially for OAC's national evangelists.
2. God's have of protection and leading on all the OAC ministry.
3. For the establishing of a new OAC India Branch in West Bengal.
4. For a video projector for the West Bengal Branch.
5. For Elaine, especially while David is traveling.
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