man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
When the Lord called my MK father-in-law, Phil Chandler, to missionary service,
his father Uri had already gone to be with the Lord. But Phil recollects his mom
Edna’s response, “She was happy and even accompanied me on my first fundrais-
ing trip so we could reach out to supporters together.”
Mike and Bonnie Shrode raised their family on the mission field of Ecuador. Their
daughter Kelly Chambers ministers there today. When asked if she ever thought she
would return to the field as an adult, Kelly remarked, “Yes, I loved being an MK and
imagined being a missionary in Japan.” When that didn’t come to pass for Kelly,
missions seemed unattainable until God surprisingly called her back to the land
where she grew up.
As a fourth-generation missionary, Joshua Williamson is a rare member of the
group. He will return to Taiwan with his young family to serve alongside his parents,
Rod and Beth. Imagine the delight of Josh’s grandparents Lowell and Naomi as they
see God’s hand leading him to the Chinese people group they impacted decades
ago. Josh clarifies, “The greatest thing that strikes me about my heritage is how
easily I can trust the Lord because of the example I have seen in my family. There is
nothing really spectacular about us other than our obedience to Christ. I hope my
life and the lives of the Williamsons before me are models of lives lived with total
surrender to the will of God.”
OMS headquarters is blessed by the service of Renee (Hardig) Christner. Her
parents, Warren and Velma, serve in the U.S. as well and travel extensively. When
asked how she would feel if her two boys were called into international ministry as
missionaries, she replied, “I pray Eli and Ben, ages 12 and 9, love the Lord with all
of their hearts and walk with him, wherever that may be.” The boys enjoy being
MKs and commented that they like meeting a lot of different people. Ben wants to
encourage other MKs to watch for new friends and be a good friend.
When the Lord brings MKs to your mind, will you pray for them? Jesus continues
to call many of the children of our current missionaries into
service. Our prayers, another common denominator in
OMS, will touch the world as the Gospel spreads.
Editor’s note: The list of people mentioned in
this article as OMS generational missionar-
ies is not complete. We are blessed with
many examples of faithful, multigenera-
tional missionaries.
photos pages 12-13: Four generations of the Williamson
family left to right: Everett and family (Lowell in chair);
Naomi and Lowell, holding Renae, Rod; Rod and Beth
(center) with Matthew and Joshua (left) and Lowell and
Naomi (right); Joshua with Jessica, holding Hosanna
13 13