Carmen’s History
- Reaching the nations through ministry to international students
- Teacher and Bible translator in Indonesia, 1971-1990
- Teacher and language coordinator, Philippines, 1992-1995
- Working with international students (ISM), 1996 to the present
- Aiming now to finish well a lifetime of ministry, especially in publishing various materials for the benefit of students and staff in ISM. As a veteran missionary, my services are available to a network of missions to teach, counsel, lead, and advise.
A testimony of faith
My mother taught me early about Jesus and made sure I was in Sunday School. She noted in my baby book that at age two I already loved Jesus. Years later, in looking back over my childhood, I realized that I cannot remember a time when I didn’t love Jesus. While attending a Lutheran school, I was baptized at age six at my request, and rebaptized in the Baptist tradition at age seven. The summary, then, is that I have spent my entire life in church and under the instruction of Christian mentors.
Memories from the Lutheran church are a bit fuzzy. Church and school fuse together. At five, while in the first grade, I stood on a chair in a frilly yellow dress, reciting the Christmas story from the book of Luke—all twenty verses. I needed the chair because that was the only way I could reach the flannel board and change all the scenes, skills I was learning from my mother who led Child Evangelism clubs in our home.
My family switched to a local Baptist church when I left the private school. That is where I learned about missions. I was about seven when I knew God was calling me to be a missionary—a foreign missionary—and that I should do Bible translation. That goal has stayed with me all these decades since.
Looking back at the spiritual influences in my life, I can easily see two sides of the picture. Yes, I chose to follow Christ, but in reality, he chose me and made sure I was in places and among people who could train me and deepen my faith.
My husband Don (d. 2020) and I married in 1963 with the discussion about mission service still ongoing. In 1965, he experienced his own call to missions and realized he needed further education. The next year we both enrolled in Western Seminary in Portland, OR with the express purpose of training for foreign missions. After his graduation in 1969, we immediately applied to the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society (now World Venture) and asked for assignment as evangelists to the island of Borneo in Indonesia. Our family of five arrived there in August 1971.
Our mission only employed one out of each couple, so although I had equal status as missionary, I did not have a work assignment. It was expected that young mothers, such as I was at the time, would be involved primarily in raising their families. They would learn the language and participate in mission activities as time and energy permitted. I hadn’t pursued Bible translation, my childhood goal, because I realized my husband was not gifted for such a pursuit. The desire never left me, however. One quiet moment while rocking my toddler, I heard God’s voice: “You will do Bible translation for me someday.” That was enough. I knew God’s call was still there, but its fulfillment was still future.
Living in a culture so drastically different from my own forced to me to rethink many assumptions that had been part of my Christian upbringing. I never wavered in core doctrines of the Christian faith, but there were a lot of questions in my “pondering box.” This is where I had put teachings that I questioned or that didn’t make sense, with the intention of thinking more about them later. In the years overseas, more assumptions ended up in the pondering box to be rethought, reconsidered, and re-evaluated. My life and faith have been much enriched by this process, a habit that is still going on.
Bible translation encourages the above practices, particularly if one is working in a language unrelated to one’s native tongue. I was forced to understand the message rather than just words and grammar. Discovering how to express the message to the hearts of people who have never heard it in their own tongue is both challenging and humbling. Watching people’s eyes light up when their hearts begin to understand is a reward that is impossible to measure.
Living in an animistic culture, as Don and I did for so long, gave us insights into the meaning of some scriptures that can be hard to grasp without such exposure. Demonic activity was intense at times, necessitating wearing the armor of God without fail. We worked with people who knew the reality of demons. We learned how people could be blinded and deceived in a syncretistic culture such as that of the Philippines (where we lived for three years). And after coming home to America, we learned how American Christians, including pastors, often felt helpless in knowing how to discern evil that was creeping into their own churches. The hands-on training God allowed me to experience strengthened my faith so that I can be confident of ultimate victory through Jesus Christ, as announced in the hymn I learned when I was young, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
Health issues brought Don and me back from the tropics. We became involved with ministry to international students at the invitation of FOCUS in Portland, a collaborative ministry group at Portland State University. My overseas experiences had prepared me for this new adventure in a way I couldn’t have foreseen.
Uncertainties about one’s personal involvement in ministry come naturally with an aging body. Widowhood has also imposed changes. I have frequently told others, “The calling remains the same, but the job description changes.” My calling to be a foreign missionary is still valid. Working for the benefit of international students still fulfills my calling, even if the daily expectations are different now than what they were when I first lived in the jungle.
We are never static. We continue to grow in faith and in our understanding of Almighty God. God’s promises are still sure, and in faith we move forward to the next stage of our journey.
