SHELBY and STELLA MAYO
WBF Missionaries to
HAWAII

   INTRODUCTION

These pages contain a brief history of the missionary work of Shelby and Stella Mayo. It does not relate an account of the many heartaches and headaches or the joys and blessings which are a part of every missionary story. Likewise the many associations enjoyed with other missionaries, national pastors, national believers and students have received very little attention. Perhaps an attempt will be made sometime in the future to tell the story more fully.

The purpose of this account is to give a report to the pastors and members of those churches which have supported our ministry. July 2001 will mark our thirtieth-third year in foreign missionary service, and some of you have faithfully stood by us with your prayers and support the entire time. 

We have carefully checked our records, consisting of old passports, plane tickets, prayer letters, and records from churches to assure accuracy of dates and numbers. We believe the record reveals the blessings of God upon His work these past 33 years. If at the Bema Judgment there be any gold, silver, or precious stones, they will be placed at the feet of Jesus. For it is He that made it all possible and is worthy of glory and honor.

Shelby Mayo

CAREER HISTORY OF SHELBY MAYO

United States Army.........3 years including 13 months in Korea from July 12, 1950 to August 1951.

Westinghouse Co. Mansfield OH..................................... January, 1953--April, 1954

Ford Motor Co., Cincinnati, OH.......................................... (Inspector) &  (Toolmaker) 
May, 1955--September, 1965

Pleasant View Baptist Church, Elliston, KY, (Pastor)............. July, 1962--July, 1965

Maineville Baptist Church, Maineville OH, (Pastor)................ July, 1965-July, 1968

Bachelor of Arts, Cedarville College.............................................................. May, 1967

Master of Theology, Luther Rice Seminary.......................................... December, 1977

Doctor of Philosophy, Baptist Christian University........................................ May, 1980

World Baptist Fellowship, Arlington, Missionary............................... July, 1968-Present

 

Singapore..........................................................................January, 1970--March 17, 1970

We landed in Singapore early in January 1970.  Our destination was Jakarta, Indonesia, but we had no visa or permit to enter that country. It was therefore necessary to stop in Singapore and renew  our efforts to obtain a visa for  Indonesia.  While in Singapore we assisted Missionary Bob Gladden, who had started a small mission there.  We helped in that work until March 17. On March 17, having obtained a visa, we flew to Jakarta, Indonesia. In July of that year they organized the mission which Bob Gladden had started as, The Singapore Bible Baptist Church.

 

Indonesia.......................................................................March, 1970--October, 1977

We landed in Jakarta at 11:00 P.M. on March 17, 1970. Since we were the first Independent Baptist missionaries to receive visas for the country of Indonesia, no one met us. We could not speak the language, and to our horror we found that  the hotel reservation which the travel agent had supposedly made was not available for us. This was the beginning of one of the  many interesting missionary stories which we will not take the space to relate at this time.

The years in Indonesia were very fruitful. The grace and mercy of God were ever present. Another missionary soon joined us in the work. We were able to establish a cover organization to invite other missionaries into the country. Twenty or more missionaries have entered the country and ministered there since the field was opened for Independent Baptist missions. We were also able to start a Bible Institute in our garage. We needed the Institute because Antoro felt the call to preach. Antoro  was the first  convert and my right-hand man in the missionary work in Indonesia. During our second term it became evident that we would have to  leave the country  because of sickness. Both my  youngest son and I had contracted "tropical sprue."  Sprue is a disease which they cannot cure if you remain in the tropics;  a strong foundation however, had already been put in place. Two churches had been established and organized. Each church had a place to worship, a well-trained membership, a Constitution, Articles of Faith and a Pastor who had been saved in the work and trained in our Bible Institute.  The Bible Institute was established in 1970.  At the time of our leaving, five men had graduated from the school. They had studied more than five years full time. Each student had to have practical work with one or more of our missions as well as classroom work. We were operating up to twelve missions and the main churches. Many of those missions have since been organized into churches.  Three of those men who graduated were ordained at the time of the organization of the two churches. Markus Suyatno was called as Pastor of the First Independent Baptist Church of Indonesia. He is still there. Marino Tambunan was called as Pastor of the Shalom Baptist Church. He is still there. Trismo Antoro was sent to Central Java as a missionary by the First Independent Baptist Church of Indonesia, and he is still there. This work in Indonesia had its beginning by the grace of God and still exist by His Grace.

 

New Zealand.....................................................................September, 1978-August, 1988

The doctor in Indonesia informed us that "tropical sprue" could not be cured. He could only treat the symptoms by massive doses of vitamin B. He also told us that when the disease reached a certain stage it was irreversible.  He advised us that the only way to stop its progression was to move to a cool or cold climate.

After much prayer and research we felt that the Lord was leading to New Zealand. Visas were very difficult to obtain for New Zealand. But nothing is too hard for the Lord. We were granted a Permanent Resident Visa.

The first term in New Zealand we started a mission that would eventually be organized into the East Coast Bays Bible Baptist Church. We also recruited the help of other missionaries to start a Bible Institute. The second term we were able to graduate a few students and build a nice church building on twelve acres of property which the church purchased. When we organized the church, they called Andrew Neville as their full time pastor. He is still there. Andrew was saved through the ministry of that church and is a graduate of the Bible Institute that we established. He also holds a Masters degree from the University of Auckland. I was asked by Pastor Neville to preach the 20^th anniversary service April 18^th, 1999. There were 137 in attendance at the service.

 

Singapore.....................................................................................August 1988-June 1991

Since East Coast Bays Bible Baptist Church was indigenous and no longer required missionary supervision, we again found ourselves wondering what the Lord wanted us to do. About that time we received a letter from Pastor Eddie Ee of the Singapore Bible Baptist Church asking us if we could come to Singapore and start a Bible Institute for them. We had some students from Singapore enrolled in correspondent courses at our school in Auckland. It was obvious that a school was needed in Singapore.

We were in Singapore about three years. The Judson Baptist School of Theology was inaugurated January 1988; it is still in operation. I received a report from the school in August 1997 that the enrollment at that time stood at thirty.

 Rev. Jason Goh one of the school's most outstanding students and his wife are presently in Thailand studying their language for missionary service. This will be the second graduate of Judson Baptist School of Theology to enter missionary service.  Sharon Tan is now serving in Indonesia as a missionary.

 

New Zealand.................................................................................June, 1991-July, 1997

We left the school in good hands and returned to New Zealand. The East Coast Bays Bible Baptist Church was doing well and had enjoyed the blessings of the Lord. We moved to Paihia, which is located about three hours drive north of East Coast Bays. The plan was to establish a work among the Maori people.  We were able to rent a place and equip it for services. The property was for sale at a good price, and we felt sure that we would soon be able to make an offer on it. After much prayer, much hours visiting, much hard work and the wonderful blessings of the Lord, we had two full families as members and an attendance of around twenty-five. Then Stella and I both became ill. Since it was almost time for furlough, we began to consider possibilities for leaving. The nearest other Independent Baptist church was about one hour south. From that point to the north end of the island there was no other Independent Baptist church. The missionary at the church south of us agreed to take over our mission.

Stella and I returned to the United States and learned that she had suffered a heart attack, and that I had cancer. She would require rest.  I required surgery.

Shortly after we returned home, we received word that the missionary who took the mission was preparing to close it and give all of the equipment away. I immediately called him and asked for the mission to be returned to me. I called another missionary and asked if he would look after the work until I could recover. He took over the work.

While I was recovering from cancer surgery, the other missionary informed me that he also wanted to close the mission.

The attendance had fallen off, one of the two families who were members had left and the other family was unfaithful. I was still unable to commit myself to the task of trying to salvage the work, so I gave him permission to close the mission under the followings conditions: all of the membership must be placed in another church, and all of the equipment and money held by the mission must be given to another mission of like faith. The mission was closed.

 

Singapore...........................................................................................................1994-1997

We were in Clearwater, FL, trying to recover from cancer surgery when a telephone call came from my good friend Dr. Worth Worley. He said that it was imperative that I come to Singapore and help Singapore Bible Baptist Church. Someone had contacted him in the church, and asked him to contact me. They had lost their pastor and people were leaving the church weekly, the offerings were down, there was no money to pay salaries, and most of the preachers whom they had asked for advice had only scolded them. I told Dr. Worley that I could not act unless the deacons contacted me.

The next call that I received from Singapore was from Davy Sim, the chairman of the body of deacons. He asks me to come to Singapore and help the church. I told brother Sim that I had to make a trip to New Zealand, and that I would come to Singapore at that time and see what could be done.

In July 1994, having recovered enough from my cancer surgery to travel, Stella and I flew to New Zealand. There was a twofold reason for the trip: we wanted to check to see that the mission had been closed down properly, and we wanted to renew our visa. A permanent visa is very hard to obtain, and we wanted the door open if the Lord led us to return to New Zealand.

Having satisfied those purposes, we journeyed to Singapore to meet with the deacons of Singapore Bible Baptist Church in order to fulfill my promise to Bother Sim. After surveying the situation and meeting with the deacons, I was convinced that the church was in very difficult circumstances. The deacons were also very concerned. They knew that it was not my practice to serve as a pastor of an organized church on the mission field, so they requested that I come and preach for them six months or a year and let them try to solve the problems. This plan I rejected because:

(1)   They had been working on the problem for some time, but it was not getting better, in fact things were getting worse;

(2) If I was to be with them for a period of time and things continued to deteriorate, I would be seen as the leader and would share a large portion of the blame. Therefore if I were to be any help, I must take a position which gave me access to all of the information and allowed me to take the action necessary to correct the problems.

Experience had taught me how much time, hard work and expense go into the establishment of a church. I felt that it would be unwise not to commit some time and effort to helping Singapore Bible Baptist Church set its house in order.

I informed the deacons that if they were one hundred percent in agreement, and if the church voted with an overwhelming majority for me to come as senior pastor, Lord willing, I would come. The deacons agreed unanimously on the spot and said that they would take the matter to the church.

I returned to the United States awaiting news of their business meeting. Not long after returning home, I received a call informing me that the church had voted one hundred percent for me to come.

While making the necessary preparations to go to Singapore, I attended the May fellowship meeting. The fellowship, counsel, and encouragement that I received at the meeting served to confirm the decision, which I had made, as sound. I flew home from the fellowship meeting to Clearwater, FL, on May 23, and suffered a stroke that evening.  The plans for Singapore seemed to have been destroyed. I could not speak plainly. I could not write my own name. I could not drive my car. In fact I could not even hit the right key on a computer keyboard. When they released me from the hospital they assigned me to a therapy clinic for speech and occupational therapy.

Sometime in June I could speak well enough to call Brother Sim. I told him about my condition and advised him that they should get someone else to lead the church. Brother Sim said that the church had already started to improve on the promise that I would come. He said to take as long as necessary to recover before coming, but to come. He also said that the deacons would do all of the visiting, the preaching, and leg work as long as necessary. The only requirement for me was that I assume the position of pastor and be in the office when I was able. In July, I cut the therapy short, and Stella and I went to Singapore. The Lord blessed during our time in Singapore. I have placed a letter from the seven deacons in the appendix of this report along with a report of the number of baptisms. You may draw your own conclusions about the work. We left the church and returned to the United States July 24, 1997, considering our task finished in the Singapore Bible Baptist Church. (See APPENDIX)

 

Clearwater, FL................................................................................July, 1997-Oct. 1998