Dr. Jim & Beth Blessman
Healthcare Ministries Missionary Associates

Dr. Jim and Beth Blessman formed Blessman Ministries (formerly Blessman Medical Ministries) in August 2001. Jim, a board-certified family physician and pain specialist, is now working as a fulltime medical missionary. Their mission is to share the love of Christ with the world using medical tools. God has been directing them to lead teams of medical and support staff from the United States to countries where the need for healthcare is great. Providing healthcare,
eyeglasses, and dentistry opens the door to countries and communities who need to experience the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.

Reverend Gary & Sheryl Carlson
Assemblies of God Missionaries to Slovenia

In the fall of 2002, while serving as missionaries in the Central African Republic, the Carlsons narrowly escaped the country during a coup attempt. It was a frightening experience for their family with young children and Sheryl was pregnant as well. But God is good and provided a way for their escape and safe return to the United States. They then began working with Assemblies of God World Missions, Africa, while in the States. The Assemblies of God only recently had been able to establish a ministry program in the C. A. R. , and Gary and Sheryl Carlson were some of the first missionaries selected to minister there. “We were among the first A/G missionaries to enter the C. A. R. ,“ Gary says, “Currently, the country is enduring more looting and rioting, and most Americans were recently evacuated. The Carlsons were involved in evangelism, church planting, and Bible school ministry. “Since this was a brand new field for our Fellowship,” Gary stresses, “the opportunities were limitless. 1-lowever, the challenges were also great. Ministry there can only be effective with strong prayer support from concerned Christians.” At age 13, Sheryl was called to Africa in a missions service in her home church in Texas. Gary, a missionary kid who grew up in South Africa and Jamaica, felt God’s call to the Central African Republic while a student in seminary. Together, Gary and Sheryl share a passion for the souls of Central Africa. The Carlsons are now itinerating to go to Slovenia, a new continent and ministry. They will be facing new challenges as they change their focus from Africa, but the message will be the same! Slovenia is a small country in Eastern Europe which used to be part of the old Yugoslavia. In this formerly communist nation of 2 million people, there are only 800 Christians. This is less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the population. The spirit that now permeates Slovenia is one of spiritual hopelessness, resulting in one of the world’s highest suicide rates.

Reverend Victor & Lynn Diaz
Assemblies of God Missionaries to El Salvador

With its name meaning “The Savior,” El Salvador is the only nation on earth named for Jesus Christ. And the Gospel being shared among El Salvador’s 5. 9 million people is continuing to change lives dramatically. The Assemblies of God fellowship of churches includes some 175,000 worshipers gathering at more than 3,000 preaching points across the country. Eleven Bible schools are training more than 600 future ministers to lead newly planted churches. Victor and Lynn Diaz have a special burden for the young people of El Salvador, and are committed to reaching this new generation with the Gospel. Not only have they introduced throngs of young people to Christ, but they have developed a discipleship program that is maturing these new believers in their walk of faith. “The country is hungry and responding to the Gospel,” Victor emphasizes. “Many young people are feeling and responding to a call to missions and ministry. Young people are sensing a vision to reach the lost in other countries.” Victor has a personal background particularly suited to reaching the youth of Latin America. He grew up in Mexico and spent a number of years in an orphanage there. It was at the orphanage that he accepted Christ as his Savior and felt called into full-time ministry. In the years before his appointment to foreign missions service, he planted and pastored a number of churches, traveled as an evangelist, taught Bible studies, and sewed as an assistant director of an orphanage in Tijuana. There he met Lynn, who had come to minister in Mexico after her graduation from Bible college. Victor is President of the National Committee of Discipleship and works with individual districts to teach church leaders discipleship principles. He is also involved with church planting through tent evangelism crusades and serves as Vice-president of the Assemblies of God national radio station and missionary advisor for the Bible Institute of El Salvador and the National Youth Department. Lynn is completing a medical degree and ministers to medical students. “In these last days before the Lord’s return,” Victor says, “in answer to the prayers of His saints, the Master is calling laborers into the worldwide harvest. Many Salvadoran and Latin American missionaries have already been called. Our task is to mobilize them and equip them for ministry.”

Reverend Tim & Doris Eckert
Assemblies of God Missionaries to Indonesia

Tim and Doris Eckert are newly appointed missionaries to Indonesia. They have a vision to impact as many of Indonesia’s 15,000 islands with the Gospel as possible. They want to reach out to the nation’s millions of children and youth in particular, touching a new generation with a life-transforming message of hope. Tim has served as a youth pastor in North Dakota. Doris has already had the opportunity to minister in Indonesia as a missionary associate where she taught first through fifth grades at an international school. After marrying in 2003, the Echerts served as youth pastors in Montana and as youth and children’s ministries sponsors at First Assembly in Des Moines, Iowa.

Reverend Kevin & Cindy Elder
Assemblies of God Missionaries to Colombia

Kevin and Cindy Elder assist and encourage Colombian pastors in starting new churches. In addition, they coordinate visiting construction teams in building churches and Bible schools. “The impact that one church or Bible school can have in spreading the Gospel far exceeds what one missionary can ever do on his or her own,” Kevin says. “Cindy and I are called to build God’s kingdom through both the planting of new church congregations and the physical construction of church and Bible school buildings. With many years of construction experience, including 2 1/2 years in Germany on long-term projects, Kevin is familiar with the challenges involved in bringing a building from the drawing board to completion. He and Cindy have already worked together on two short-term missions trips to Cambodia and Colombia to build two Bible schools. But beyond their practical experience, the Elders have been heavily involved in personal ministry as well. “While living in Des Moines, Iowa,” Cindy says, “we had the opportunity to develop a ministry to young married couples at our home church. We were also involved in an intercultural ministry serving as Asian adult pastors. The Elders’ assignment to Colombia fulfills long-held individual life goals. In 1984, Kevin went to Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, to earn a degree in missions, after sensing God calling him to foreign service the year before. Cindy was attending a missions service in 1986 when she knew God was leading her to become a missionary. Since marrying in 1991, Kevin and Cindy have always known that God’s plan for their family was to serve Him overseas.

Reverend Richard & Sandee Farthing
Assemblies of God Missionaries to Bolivia

Bolivia is South America’s poorest nation, with a largely rural population. Only 10 percent of the roads are paved, making a 4-wheel drive vehicle a necessity. Rich and Sandee Farthings’ outreach in the back country has been among the Guarani Indians. They have also begun work with the Quechua; and currently, this ministry has been in Bolivia’s towns. “About 85 percent of the Guarani and 70 percent of the Quechua have never had an adequate presentation of the Gospel,” Rich shares. “The Guarani are the fourth largest tribe in Bolivia, and we have traveled about 100,900 miles deep in the back country ministering among their villages, with Sandee focusing upon the children and Rich upon the adul