Meet the Missionaries
Joyce Alpaugh
ASSIGNMENT: Bursar
COUNTRY: Cameroon
I served in Cameroon as a “missionary” for 3 years. But my idea of “bringing God” to these people was changed during the formation process. Someone said: “Remember, God is already there!” That was so true. The experience of living among a different culture taught me that God indeed is already there…
Debbie Bauer
ASSIGNMENT: Teacher
COUNTRY: Cameroon
“When most people think of missionaries, they think of someone going to preach at people to convert them to the faith. Lay Mission-Helpers do a different sort of mission work. I love the idea of witnessing to my faith simply with my presence. I know that I will learn more from the students I will be …
Warren & Deanna Bowers
ASSIGNMENT: Teacher (Warren)/School Nurse & Teacher (Deanna)
COUNTRY: Cameroon
Lay Mission Helpers provided the way of our first bridge to Nkambe, Cameroon We came to Nkambe armed with the LMH classes in everything from church history to spirituality, from cultural and other religion sensitivity to assorted types of prayer. We were full of professional competence, having recently retired from responsible engineering and nursing careers. We were also full of apprehension—about living and working in this entirely foreign community…
Jeff & Courtney Caiola
ASSIGNMENT: Administrator (Jeff) & Nurse Tutor (Courtney)
COUNTRY: Uganda
“Our mission experience as a family was an incredibly humbling and life-giving experience. Personally, our time in formation and mission were a time of unprecedented growth and enlightenment in all aspects of my life. My sense of the world, humankind and our relationship to one another and God was completely altered and enriched by this…
Jovanni & Grace Chang
ASSIGNMENT: Pastoral Associates 
COUNTRY: Taiwan
“Like it or not, we all do our Mission in our daily Christian life. Only I learned this in a hard way before I joined LMH. Here in Taiwan, I simply invite Jesus to do the Mission with me, because I know he is the best friend and leader I can find. Every day in good times, hard times, Jesus is so gentle to me. The outcome is so good, far beyond my wildest imaginations. Up to now from the school Principal, Sisters of Our Lady of China, to most of the teachers are all impressed. We’re half way…
Earl Fong & Diane Prell
ASSIGNMENT: Teachers
COUNTRY: Tanzania
“Despite the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual challenges and frustrations of living and working on a strange continent stricken with poverty and disease in the midst of strangers speaking strange tongues, our hearts are happy here. Every day presents an invitation to die to ourselves so that Christ may live in us. The mysteries of change & growth are fraught with mistakes, missteps, and mishaps. Maturing does not come easy. But even if one is faint of heart…
Chris & Alicia Johnson
ASSIGNMENT: Nurse (Chris)/Teacher (Alicia)
COUNTRY:Cameroon
From the time I (Alicia) was 18 years old, I kept feeling this nagging call that never went away and kept driving me toward the prospect of working in overseas missions. I felt excited when I would read about people doing mission work in Africa. Little did we know that my husband, Chris, would travel in a tiny jeep on some of the worst roads imaginable to reach village health centers and teach new nurses how to improve their skills. How fun to be a part of a community in a land with different customs, music and food…
David & Jill Kalinski
ASSIGNMENT: Teacher (David)/Pastoral Associate (Jill) 
COUNTRY: Marshall Islands
“We lived on Jaluit Atoll, a remote outpost in the Marshall Islands, where I taught high school and Jill and I worked with the youth of the local parish. What a privilege it was to watch the young people with whom we worked develop not only in the classroom but also in their spiritual walk. By the end of our time…
Joshua & Rachel Knight
ASSIGNMENT: Water Project Engineer/Teacher
COUNTRY: Cameroon
“I thought I trusted in the Lord before I went to Cameroon, but when I got there I learned to really trust the Lord. By necessity I prayed a lot more when I was there and I struggled to grow in virtues like charity and humility and faithfulness. It wasn’t always easy, but like we realized in my prayer group last night: God calls us out of our comforts zones because he wants to be our comfort zone. This will happen when …
Ed & Cathy Medina
ASSIGNMENT: Physicians Assistant (Ed)/Nurse Tutor (Cathy)
COUNTRY: Cameroon
Being a Lay Mission Helper has been a major highlight in our lives as a family. Not only did it bring us closer together as a family, it cultivated our growing into the larger family of God in the world and enabled us to work with our brothers and sisters on another continent to bring the family of God into reality. Living and working day by day in a very different culture from ours, with each hardship and joy that came along, we had to trust in God’s promise to be with us always. What a challenge and an opportunity to grow in our faith in Him, as well as our faith and …
Debbie Noonan
ASSIGNMENT: Teacher
COUNTRY: Taiwan
Teaching ESL classes to high school students in Taiwan is a different kind of mission. Chiayi is a big, bustling city. And when my students walk in with their MP3 players plugged into their ears, or I am snatching away cell phones that they are not permitted to use during class, I find myself…
Frank Olszyna
ASSIGNMENT: Teacher
COUNTRY: Cameroon
“People ask me if I am excited about going on a mission. Of course, I am very happy that my youthful dream is coming to fruition; as far as an exercise in virtues goes, this is simply a fantastic destination. There are some…
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Bud & Sue Ozar
ASSIGNMENT: Administrator (Bud)/Teacher (Sue) 
COUNTRY: American Samoa & Kenya
“Outside of my family, our work in Samoa and Kenya was the most significant thing I have done with my life. I questioned how my managerial skills could possibly be of use in the missions. I soon realized how invaluable our skills and presence were. Serving in the missions I learned we receive more than we give...
Diana Sherrod
ASSIGNMENT: Nurse Tutor
COUNTRY: Uganda
“Mission changes your life forever. Serving in a third world country has made me a better nurse and a better teacher. It was truly a joy to help mold the minds of young adults who will be giving care to the poorest of the poor. Mission was the most difficult and the most rewarding experience of my life.”
Rachel Sybor
ASSIGNMENT: Teacher
COUNTRY: Cameroon
“Three years in Africa? You just graduated college! Are you crazy?” That is all I heard right before I left for Cameroon. And now I hear “Three years!! That’s amazing!! Did you love it?!” I did love my time there and I miss it every day. Teaching in Cameroon was so much more than a job or a life experience—it was a defining moment of my life. I was blessed to have …
Mitch Tolbert
ASSIGNMENT: Teacher 
COUNTRY: Guatemala
“What are the gifts of mission? The gift of living simply without the need for so much stuff—a thankfulness for life and all that God provides for us from the earth—the gift of being truly present to others. These are just a few of the gifts I’ve received in my mission to the Mayan people of Guatemala.”