Evangelical Presbyterian Church

BRUCE & ELLIE

Bruce and Ellie were appointed in January as EPC World Outreach missionaries to a publicly undisclosed country in Eastern Europe. Working with the Institute for Reformation, which they founded in 2008, they will provide theological, higher education and leadership development to Christian leaders in this Eastern European country who are preparing themselves for national influence.

This country was part of the former Soviet Union, and it’s conditions are still oppressive for Christians; the church is persecuted. Evangelicals are just 1.69% of the population. But the churches there, building on their little known history of Reformation faith, have formed a ‘new reformation movement’ that offers great potential for a greater witness and many more Eastern Europeans coming to Christ.

Bruce began ministry projects to the Baltics and Eastern Europe when invited in 2001. Since then, he has led teams of academics and professionals regularly to numerous countries. Because of visa restrictions and the nature of their ministry, Bruce and Ellie’s ministry model will involve regular travel to the country of their appointment as well as hosting leaders in their ‘ministry home’ in Suffolk, Virginia.

As additional part of their ministry, on behalf of EPC’s World Outreach Ministry, Bruce will also be tying together an EPC WO network of international theological institutions where EPC church and individual ministries already exist.

Bruce and Ellie experienced the saving grace of Christ in childhood and grew through campus ministry while at the University of Iowa. Ellie was a registered nurse before homeschooling their children. Bruce was ordained in 1994 after completing his B.A. in history at the University of Iowa and M.Div. in practical theology and M.A. in public policy at Regent University. He served EPC churches for fifteen years as Pastor of Plumtree Presbyterian Church (Plumtree, NC) and Associate Pastor of Kempsville Presbyterian Church (Virginia Beach, VA). He has served four years on the EPC World Outreach Committee. Bruce is a Ph.D. candidate at Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (Oxford, UK) doing research in historical theology on sixteenth-century Reformation theology in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Bruce and Ellie have been married for twenty-four years and enjoy their children; Mary (23) married to Wes, David (21), Daniel (13), and Samuel (9).

KRISTA

Krista, a member of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Kingstowne, VA, was appointed as a World Outreach short-term missionary in February 2010. She will serve a one-year term in the Middle East as a tenth grade English Literature teacher at a coed English-speaking evangelical school. The school builds on a long tradition of missionary education in this part of the Middle East dating back to the nineteenth century. Because of this history, Muslim and Druze families know the value of an Evangelical education and, in many cases, choose to send their children to evangelical schools. Krista’s position will give her a unique opportunity to touch the lives of young people from various religious backgrounds, Muslim, Druze, and Christian. She will be able to freely share the gospel with her students, as well as impart practical knowledge.

Krista is the daughter of Faith’s Associate Pastor of Outreach and Discipleship, Rev. Bob Barnett. She placed faith in Christ as a young child, but she did not fully understand the gravity of Jesus’ death on the cross for her sins until her teens. After a period of crisis and personal struggle in high school, Krista renewed her faith in Jesus Christ as her only hope for salvation and her reason for living.

Krista’s first missions experience was in 2001 with her church high school youth group on a cross-cultural short-term trip to work with Voice of Calvary Ministries (VOCM) in Jackson, MS. She returned to VOCM in 2002 and 2003. On two short-term trips with teams from Faith EPC in 2006 and 2008, she assisted in the ministry of International Christian Community (ICC) in Lyon and Marseilles, France. Krista first considered ministry to the Muslim World her freshman year at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) after befriending some of her Muslim classmates. She received her B.A. in English from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA in 2010.

CHRISTINA

Christina from Kempsville Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, VA was appointed as a World Outreach career missionary in September 2009. Also partnered with Frontiers, she will join a Church Planting team among Muslims in Central Asia. Her expected departure is March 2011.

Christina came to faith as a young child through the nurture and love of Christian parents. At the age of 16, she had an encounter with the Lord through prayer and received a missionary calling to the Muslim World. Her life journey since this time has been devoted to educational pursuits, training, equipping, and short-term mission trips in preparation for long-term missionary service in unengaged Muslim locations.

Her first missionary journey was at age 12 to Juarez, Mexico. She has since traveled to 25+ nations, studied abroad, and lived abroad. Christina also served four years in the International Ministries department at KPC under Pastors Nate Atwood and Bruce Anderson.

She received a Bachelor’s of Science in International Business from Oral Roberts University in 2002 and a Master’s of Health Science in Emergency and Disaster Management from Touro University in 2008.

Christina has a passion to help people in crisis and those living in war-torn nations.

DON AND PAM KEARBY

Don and Pam Kearby were appointed as EPC missionaries at the World Outreach Personnel Committee meeting held in December 2009. Don will work in the role of Western Associate for Missions Advancement for the EPC’s World Outreach Ministry. This role focuses on increasing the awareness among local EPC churches of the current EPC mission projects, creating interest in EPC World Outreach Ministry and helping to recruit missionaries.

Don received Christ as Lord and Savior in his junior year of high school and grew stronger through his college years despite a variety of challenges to his faith. He attended Denver Seminary and graduated in 1994 with a Master of Divinity Degree (World Christianity emphasis). He was ordained in the Presbytery of the West in May of 1995. Don and Pam joined OC International that same year and served in Kenya from 1996 to 2009. Don accepted a call as part-time pastor at Cornerstone Community Church starting in January of 2010 and will be in a dual role with the church and EPC World Outreach.

Pam grew up with knowledge of God and Jesus through her church, but it was not until after college that she accepted the Lord as her Savior. She graduated in 1983 from the University of Kansas with a BS degree in Occupational Therapy. She did several short-term mission trips before she and Don entered long-term service in Kenya.

Don and Pam met at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church and were married there in April of 1989. During seminary, Trinity EPC (now GracePoint Community Church) became their home church. They have three children Austin (16), Elianna (11) and Michelle (8).