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Our Member Development Team

“Champions of Growth and Renewal”
The dictionary describes “champion” as one who engages in a contest, a combatant; a fighter; one who contended in single combat on behalf of another’s honor or rights; one who acts or speaks on behalf of a person or course; a defender; an advocate.” Our team believes that this is what God has called us to do on behalf of the missionaries we serve. We have an awesome team that seeks to honor the Lord with their lives and each play a significant part in what the Lord is doing around the world among our 700+ American Pioneers!

Our fearless leader is Deb Donelson. We have known Deb for over 20 years now. She was on one of our summer missionaries teams (EDGE) back in 1988. I remember walking with Deb and discussing with her about going into missions full time. She had been working for Blue cross and Blue shield for many years. I remember wondering how could she even be contemplating it because I was in my own comfort zone by then and could not understand the challenges she faced!!! Believe me I understand a lot more now! Deb has a great heart and desires that each of us reach our full potential in what the Lord has called us to. She likes to push us to stretch ourselves and grow in what the Lord is showing us.

Rob Farnsley basically has the same type of job description as we do, however he is looking after Eurasia, the Americas and Southeast Asia/Pacific. We first met Rob back in 1994 and he was on his way to the Balkans after serving a while in Indonesia. He had graciously offered to take Jonathan out to see his first launch at the space coast at 4 am, which was scrubbed. Rob enjoys life and when you ask him how he is doing, his usual answer is, “better than ever”! He loves to sit on his deck and offer “deck therapy” to anyone who might need it. He has developed a great ministry with local “young bucks” (as he calls them) in challenging them in the battles for their hearts. He is quick to offer both the ethos of grace and truth in your life. Rob is the coordinator for CONNECT which means for two weeks a year we call him Mr. Connect.

Mike Wilcox has been on the team for a little over 3 years now. He takes care of Mid Asia. Mike was a team leader in Indonesia for years and then a Pastor in California before joining our team here. Mike has a gentle spirit that endeavors to keep the unity of the spirit…..He uses his training with peacemakers throughout his area.

Patti Sherman is the glue that holds the place together. She is the administrative assistant who keeps track of where people are, changes in their information, situation and families. She also reads through hundreds of prayer letters to be sure we are not missing anything. She keeps our calendars working together so that we know who, what, why, where and when! She has an incredible memory and can usually tell us what we need to know without much effort! She is the detail person that makes things happen.

Tim Smith is our official TCK coordinator. His heart is for our TCK’s (Third Culture Kids). These are kids of our missionaries that have spent a significant amount of their lives in a country different than their parent’s birth country. We have worked with Tim here in Orlando for years! He recently moved to Oregon, but comes back to Orlando about six times a year. He coordinates kids programs when needed, travels to visit kids where needed and does a great job at communicating, teaching, advising, and encouraging parents of our TCK’s. Patty helps Tim with teaching kids programs when needed. Tim has been a great friend over the years and one of our own personal champions!

Todd Corbin works along side Tim but is focusing on our TCKs that are college age. These are usually kids that are separated from their parents and have returned to the US for college. This is where Todd’s heartbeat is. He loves hanging out with them and getting into discussions that only TCKs can get into and challenging them to continue in their walk with the Lord. I think he could be our team comedian! We are just getting to know each other.

Elizabeth Pennock: Is our newest member to the Orlando team. She has recently returned from serving in Bosnia and Montenegro. Elizabeth works with us part time as she is now a full time student working hard at getting her degree in counseling. She is interning with us as she helps Mike Wilcox in his area of the world and she helps him stay caught up when he travels. It looks like she will also be our team scribe as she is working on a pamphlet that we hope to send out letting everyone know who we are and what we do.

Linda Hairgroves: Vance says that her “head is in training and her heart is in member development”. I think she is an honorary member of our team as she is not officially on the team, but she is very much a part of what we do. She makes Clarion Consulting happen and we help her with it during Pre-Field training. She is also available for debriefs and events as needed in our department. Linda and her husband served many years in Indonesia.

Vance and Patty Woodyard: About Us

What is Member Development? More About The Team

What is CONNECT?

CONNECT ... a week provided twice a year in Orlando for missionaries to come and tell their story in small group and individual settings...

CONNECT... a time of seeing God in action as we listen and give courage to one another.
For more information click here: CONNECT

June 2008

10123 William Carey Dr. Orlando, FL 32832 (407) 382-6000
Home Address: 12804 Maribou Cir. Orlando, FL 32828
E-mail: woodyard@swissmail.org Phone: 407-381-9823

Thank you for praying for us! We are back in the USA! We have met our grandson, visited with our kids, family, friends, some supporters, found a place to rent, a car to drive and we have been catching up on life! Our new
contact information is above.

We returned to the US to reprocess our visa paperwork and raise the monthly support needed to live in Europe. The exchange rate of the US dollar to the Euro changed every month that we were in France. This caused us to have a 30% cut in finances over the past two years. We have also had individuals and churches either drop our support or lower their monthly amount. This also has caused our monthly support need to increase quite a bit and we need to raise this before returning to live in Europe. If you would like us to share in your church, Bible study or small group, please contact us. We appreciate your continual prayers as we trust the Lord to provide in His timing.

Right before we left France, we received a letter from the government requesting that we reprocess our paper work for our visitors card. We were planning to do this in Miami while we were in the US rather than restart the process in France. To add to the excitement of our lives, we recently received an unexpected letter saying that the card we have been waiting and praying for is available for us to pick up in France!! We just have to appear in person for our physical, pay the $775.00 tax fees, and pick up the card that will let us live in France. We would like to make a quick trip to France to do what needs to be done to get the card as soon as possible.

Pray for the finances and timing of purchasing the tickets, having the physical, paying the taxes and picking up the cards. They will only hold onto these cards for a couple of months. We need to raise this unexpected cost to cover the expenses of the trip. We are not be able to reprocess it here now, because they have them there! We do not always understand the Lord’s timing and ways, but we do know that we can always rely on and trust Him!!!

What did we do in while we were in France? While we were learning and building a foundation for our future ministry, we were providing pastoral care for missionaries. We provided critical incident stress debriefing for families who were evacuated from their place of ministry or going through difficult times and just needed a break. One of the highlights of our time was attending the

PIONEERS SW Europe Summit where missionaries from France, Spain, Portugal and England came together for the first time. It was a time of building relationships and listening to people share about their lives and ministries. We encouraged people to keep moving forward in their work during times when they felt like giving up. We hosted missionaries in our home as they travel through France coming and going from their place of ministry. We developed friendships and relationships with others in the community where we hope to live. We continued learning the language and about the culture while we developed relationships with a few French people at the local church we attended.

Sometimes we think about the things that didn’t work out according to our expectations or plans, and we are reminded that the Lord is working things out for good. He has all things in His plans and purposes for our lives. We have appreciated each of you as you have prayed with us and for us as we walk with Him. Thank you for being a part of our lives and ministry.

In Him,

Vance, Patty, Randy and Mary Ann Woodyard