Our History

At age 12, I knew the Lord wanted me to be a pastor/ missionary. So, for the rest of my high school years and into Bible College I worked to that end. In 1980, I enrolled at the Massillon Baptist College. This was also the sending church of my parents. While in college, I wanted to work with the faithful man and woman who led me to the Lord many years earlier, so I started helping in Jr. church. In 1982, their daughter Gloria and I married. Conclusion - Dear Christian Brother take hope when bringing those bus kids to church with you. God can save them and their families. However, they may end up marrying your daughters and take them to a foreign mission field ;) Just remember the eternal law of sowing and reaping. You always get back more than you sow…in heaven God takes account and He will give out our eternal rewards. Thanks Bus captains, Sunday school teachers, and future in-laws.

Sister Gloria McClure’s Testimony  
I was led to the Lord at the age of five by my mother. I remember many evenings over family devotions discussing God’s will for our lives.  One series of devotions was over the life of Amy Carmichael, a lady missionary to India.  What impressed me as a young child was the fact that because God gave her dark brown hair and eyes, she looked very much like the local people and God used her greatly to spread the Gospel.  Because God gave me dark brown hair and eyes, for many years when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would answer, “I want to be a missionary!”  As a teenager, I realized that missionaries leave home and country and I began to doubt I could do that.  It was at a summer camp when I was 14 that God got a hold of my heart and I surrendered to be a missionary or preacher’s wife.  Three years later when I told this story to a young man who also knew God had called him to be a missionary, he thought I was just trying to get a date!  But God works in wondrous ways and at age 18 I was married to this Godly man and on my way to fulfilling God’s will for my life.  I encourage all parents to raise their children close to God and the church from the time they are born.  Don’t belittle the desire of these little ones to one day be in God’s service.  We never know what God has in store for the future.

Our Missionary Work Starts  
    For 2 years we worked with Saipan Baptist Temple and Grace Christian Academy on the Northern Mariana island of Saipan. After our internship was finished we moved to Florida and worked on staff at the Pinellas Park Baptist Temple and Christian School in St. Petersburg. By 1988 they were approved missionaries with the World Baptist Fellowship Mission Agency. After being unable to get our work permit in Fiji the Lord opened the doors for us to serve in the Jamaica, West Indies. For nearly 12 years we planted churches and saw many souls saved in. Once the third work had called a national pastor, we started making plans to begin another work in a different parish. But the Lord had other plans. When our work permits were denied we sought the Lord’s leadership. That is when long time friend from Saipan expressed the great need for a Baptist Church planter to go to his home country of Palau and carry the gospel to his family.

We planned a survey trip and embarked on a plane for the island hopper to visit 8 different countries in the Pacific. That was 8:00 am September 11, 2001. By 9:00 am our plane had been grounded in Houston, Texas. Like all the others flights throughout the USA we could not go where we wanted to go. This notorious day will never be forgotten. But amongst the chaos and confusion of all the events of terrorism God was working in our hearts to speed us on to His destination. So we prayed and asked, "Why the delay?" And it seemed God wanted us to forget those other countries and just go directly to Palau. At least that is how we felt the Lord leading through answered prayers.

    It took 3 months before we could get reimbursed for our tickets. God answered prayers and we got enough money back to buy a one-way ticket for everyone in the family. Not knowing anyone at all in the country, God opened door after door to provide transportation, a house and connections with many prominent people on the Island of Koror. Of those including the Vice-president, many in the business sector and even religious leaders all acknowledged the great need for God to work amongst these people.

   Half way around the world from our home in the United States is a little collection of islands called the "Rock Islands." The official name is the “Republic of Palau.” Known in the native language as "Belau" meaning "Fairy Tale Islands," Palau is located on the southern brim of the Mariana Trench and is a beautiful country. After our arrival sickness, flu, typhoons and mud kept the whole family house bound for three weeks. But with the coming of the New Year, there came new beginnings.