In the Beginning ...
We were born again in 1975 during a Lay Witness Mission in the Methodist church.
So began our adventure with God. Immediately we wanted to be involved in anything that would teach us about God. We eventually taught some adult Sunday school classes, led Bible studies, and held Bible studies in our home. Linus led a men's and youth Bible study. Kay co-led a women's Bible study. It was our involvement in a couples' Bible study that led to our next assignment from God.
Marriage Ministry:
The couples' Bible study was on marriage. We were having difficulty in our marriage at that time. The couple who taught the Bible study had started a marriage ministry. We began to volunteer for them, which led to a full-time position. During the five years we were with the ministry, we helped it grow from a local to a national ministry. During this time we received crash-course, hands-on experience in just about everything pertaining to ministry: praying for people, counseling, scheduling and setting up meetings, filling orders, traveling, etc.
Canadian Fishing Camp:
While we were involved with the marriage ministry, our church took a group of people to a fly-in fishing camp in Ontario, Canada. We fell in love with the place. We spent two summers managing the camp. It was a great time of ministry and fellowship. We ministered in every way to the people who came - spirit, soul, and body.
After two summers in Canada, we returned to the marriage ministry. After several months there, we knew God had our next assignment ready for us.
Pastor on Staff in Chicago:
On a trip through the Chicago area Linus stopped to visit a pastor friend. Unknown to Linus, the associate pastor was leaving. Linus was offered his job. We felt this was our next step. Within a few weeks we moved to the south suburbs of Chicago.
We were there a total of seven years. We did marriage counseling and premarital counseling. We wrote premarital manuals for engaged couples. We also started a group called the Encouragers, composed of strong, married couples whom we taught to minister to the couples with marriage problems.
During our years at the church we met Andrew Wommack. On one of Andrew's visits to the church, he said to Linus, "You need to be on the mission field." Linus disagreed at first, but God began to prepare the way for our next adventure.
Bible School in the Soviet Union:
This was an experience like no other - leaving everything that was familiar to us and going where nothing was familiar. We were part of a team that left for Latvia, USSR in January of 1991. The Bible school started a few weeks later. It was a tremendous success. Students came from many different regions. Many churches were started by the graduates and are still going strong today. We don't believe we will know the full fruit of that Bible school this side of glory.
We spent two years there. It would have been more, but our visas were rejected in Moscow when we returned after being in the States. Our visas were issued in Latvia, and we couldn't come into Moscow on Latvian visas (after the breakup of the USSR). We were sent home.
We returned to Chicago and our old staff position. We were there for almost two years when Andrew Wommack came back into our lives. This time, our meeting opened the door for our next assignment.
Charis Bible College:
Andrew told Linus he wanted to start a Bible school. The vision God had given Andrew and the one He had given Linus fit together perfectly. In July of 1994 we moved to Colorado.
Colorado Bible College started in August of 1994. Linus was the director, Kay was the administrator and both were instructors. It started with about seventy-five students the first year and grew dramatically over the following years. Eventually, CBC changed its name to Charis Bible College because extension schools were being started in the U.S. and internationally.
God has greatly increased the influence and impact of CBC around the world. The most exciting part for us was the way the Word changed peoples' lives. Future leaders were being trained and equipped.
We thought this would be the final phase of our ministry. But after twelve fulfilling years, God had our next adventure - our second phase - ready for us. Read what we're doing now in "About Us".