read part 1 here

So this young pastor won the “vote for your favorite pastor” contest. The prize was a trip to Quito, Ecuador to see first hand the ministry of  HCJB radio station.  This young pastor, along with other members of the tour group, met several missioanries. Among them was Marge Saint.  They traveled to Shell Mera and saw first hand the ministry that was born out out of a great loss… the five missionaries speared to death by members of the Waodani tribe.

His life was interrupted… by God’s call on his life to be a missionary in a foreign land.

The very same week, back home in Tampa, his wife sat in their church listening to guest speakers, Ivan and Doris Schoen, missionaries from another jungle… the jungles of Suriname. As she listened, this young pastor’s wife felt her life being interrupted by God’s call to follow her husband, wherever that might be.

And the rest is history…history that is still being written.

Within a year they applied to West Indies Mission and a year and a half later they found themselves with their 8 year old daughter in the jungles of Suriname, where they served God for 10 years.

This young pastor and his wife are my parents, Art & Evy Yohner.