Showing posts with label Missionary Spotlight; Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missionary Spotlight; Greece. Show all posts

Friday, April 10, 2009

Missionary Spotlight

Jeff and Mary Baldwin, Greece




Jeff Baldwin was born in 1965 in West Chicago, Illinois. One year later, his parents arrived in Athens Greece as Greater Europe Mission’s first missionaries to that country, with the intent of founding a Bible Institute, a goal that came to fruition in 1980.

As a missionary kid, Jeff was sent to Greek public schools all his life, so he grew up fully immersed in the Greek culture and language. Although he found the Lord at an early age, there were many times when he was not pleased with the decision of his parents to be missionaries, and often resented the fact that he had to grow up in another country. But at age 15, at a youth conference, he was moved to dedicate the rest of his life to Christian service. With this in mind, he enrolled at Moody Bible Institute, and then later, Dallas Theological Seminary.

In his first year of study at Moody, it became clear to him that the vision of his parents was to be his own, that throughout the years God had been preparing him for this position. So, for the next 11 years, Jeff prepared through education, as well as through two years in the pastorate, to become a teacher at the Greek Bible Institute. He and his wife Mary have been serving there since 1995.

While there Jeff has taught many different subjects in Old Testament, New Testament, and theology. He also preaches almost every Sunday at the Greek Evangelical Church of the Northern Suburbs of Athens, and is invited to speak at youth conferences and Bible conferences throughout Greece. Jeff was appointed director of the Greek Bible Institute in 2004.

Currently, in addition to the challenges of leading the Bible School, Jeff is working on his doctorate at the Evangelical Theological Faculty, in Leuven, Belgium. Jeff and Mary have two boys and a girl: William (16), Paul (13), and Danae (11).


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Friday, March 27, 2009

Missionary Spotlight

Bill and Marion Baldwin, Greece



Bill was born in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to Houston, Texas when he was 15. In college his roommate invited him to church and there he made a public confession of his faith.

After college, with a BS in Religion he attended Moody Bible Institute for one year and then Dallas Seminary where he received his MTh. While at seminary he met Bob Evans, founder of Greater Europe Mission and felt that GEM's thrust of starting Bible Colleges all over Europe was a wise idea. For some reason God placed Greece on Bill’s heart. GEM expected all candidates to attend Missionary Internship, a 7-month training program for would-be missionaries, in Detroit, which is where Bill & Marion met.

Marion was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She graduated from Toronto Bible College and then became a registered nurse before going to Missionary Internship.

Bill served as youth pastor at West Chicago Bible church for one year after their marriage and then a year later, having raised their support, Bill & Marion left for Greece with a very simple job description: start a Bible Institute. So....that's what they did....and therein lies a LONG story of learning a language, gaining the trust of the Greek evangelicals, finding a 'home' for the Greek Bible Institute, finding teachers and students and the money to pay for it all....GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL. Bill has taught all the Theology courses at the Bible college, Marion used to teach a course to young women, but now does the book-keeping for the college for Greater Europe Mission.

Today the director of the college is their son Jeff. The graduates are pastors of the majority of the Greek Evangelical churches in Greece. They head up most para-church organizations in Greece, and are also serving as missionaries.

Bill and Marion’s four children have all married Greeks and 2 of them are also missionaries with GEM in Greece. Thank God they are all committed Christians, married to people from committed Christian homes. They also have 11 grandchildren.

Bill & Marion first heard of First Presbyterian church in Jackson, Mississippi when their then pastor, Don Patterson, asked Bill to lead a tour group he was bringing to Greece. Bill and Marion got a burden for Greece and even sent Van and Alice Rusling to Greece to work with the GEM team for a few years. Van actually taught Marion her job!

Please pray for Bill and Marion as they serve in Greece.



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