An update on Jack, from Marie Matlack

Dear Friends,

Jack was called home to heaven on Wednesday evening, the 24th of February.

Thank you for your prayers even when you weren't aware of our special needs.

Burial will take place tomorrow morning in a local cemetery (a private service for the family). On the 1st of March there will be a memorial service here at Calvary Homes. Visitation is at l:30 with the service beginning at 2:00.

We will appreciate your continued prayers for us. Some of our family has already arrived, but several are still on the way.

Thank you for your love and prayers,

Marie for the family

Meet Parker Gamwell

Dear friend,

A new year brings new resolutions, new goals, and unfortunately for some, a new year of challenges.

For retired missionaries, whose sponsors often could not afford to provide them with retirement savings or health care coverage, their golden years often mean struggle.

For one of those couples, Parker and Lois Gamwell, service to the Lord was a 58-year labor of love.

But like far too many retired missionaries, their later years have brought challenges.

Parker and Lois Gamwell served as faithful missionaries to Mexico and the Southwestern United States for 58 years.

Together they influenced countless lives with the good news of the Gospel.

After serving in the army during World War II, Parker moved with Lois to Minnesota, where they ministered as missionaries from 1946-48. The Lord then led them to Pennsylvania where Parker pastored three Bible churches from 1948-1950.

Parker and Lois were called by God to Mexico in 1950 to begin work in remote mountain villages of Mexico. In the late 1950s, the Gamwell family moved to El Paso, Texas, but continued their ministry in Mexico. Parker traveled regularly to Mexico one or two weeks each month, with the family joining him on holidays and during the summer.

Over the years, the Gamwells had numerous ministries. One of their first ministries was a radio broadcast each Sunday to Mexico, Central and South America. Their writing and printing ministry provides books and tracts, all written by Parker, to believers in Mexico, Central and South America to be used for pastoral resources, Bible studies, Sunday School, evangelism, and much more.

Their Christian literature and printing ministry recently expanded to Africa and India with translations in English, Spanish, French, Telugu, Hindi, and Chinese.

Parker and Lois have seven grown children: Grace, Tom, Dan, Tim, Karl, Ruth, and Nancy, all of whom serve the Lord in a full- or part-time capacity; 29 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren.

But their later years brought challenges to their health and finances. In August 2008, after struggling with her health for several years, Lois went home to be with the Lord. Throughout their years of ministry, Lois faithfully served alongside her husband, showing the love of Christ through her generous hospitality and kind spirit. She was known to never speak unkindly about anyone.

They were married for 65 years. Parker expects to continue in ministry until the Lord takes him home, too. In addition to continuing the printing ministry, Parker teaches approximately 6-7 hours each week at various locations. During the week, Parker teaches classes of both men and women at the local jail, prison, and immigration facilities. The people are eager and excited to hear the gospel and learn about God’s purpose for their lives. On Sundays and Thursdays, Parker teaches in a New Mexican church.

Parker continues to faithfully and cheerfully serve in his retirement, but like many older and disabled missionaries, he needs help paying bills.

Can you click here to make your most generous tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, $100, $250 or even $500 to the Foundation for Retired Missionaries so you and I may help retired missionaries like Parker?

Any gift in any amount would be deeply appreciated and put to the wisest use. Our Board of Directors pays virtually all of our overhead costs, so that your gift can go directly towards assisting missionaries like Parker.

So please click here to give generously today.

Meet Jack and Marie

As many of us gathered with family and friends to celebrate the birth of Christ, some of us also celebrated the many blessings we enjoyed this past year and looked forward to a year of many more.

Few are as blessed as missionaries, dedicating their lives to sharing God's word. But those blessings also come with a cost. Many mission organizations cannot provide retirement security. For older or disabled missionaries, that means many will spend their retirement years facing tremendous health and financial challenges. The Foundation for Retired Missionaries, working with the support of friends like you, works to provide some peace of mind to these missionaries, people like Jack and Marie Matlack:

Jack and Marie Matlack served with Biblical Ministries Worldwide (BMW), bringing the good news of the gospel to Germany for 34 years. During their time in Germany, they worked in a church planting ministry.

After living overseas, they moved to mission headquarters (then in Langhorne, Pennsylvania) to serve as hosts in the guest house for 5 years. BMW then moved to Lawrenceville, Georgia. Marie and Jack worked in the office in various support areas, wherever help was needed. After 10 years in Georgia, Jack and Marie retired in February of 2000.

Jack and Marie are thankful that God has brought them to Calvary Fellowship Homes (CFH), a Christian retirement community, where they have resided since March 2000.

The Matlacks have four children: Linda, Jack, Anita, and Ken; 12 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren. All of Jack and Marie’s children are involved in ministry, three of whom continue to carry on missionary work in Germany and Austria.

What can you do right now to help friends like Jack and Marie? Simply invite more of your Facebook friends to support the Foundation for Retired Missionaries here on Facebook.

Should you want to help financially, please click here to send us your best tax-deductible gift. Any amount would be greatly appreciated, and put to the wisest use, so please give whatever you feel comfortable.

Thank you, God bless, Merry Christmas and warmest wishes for a happy New Year.

KENT AND LINDA, AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO SUPPORT THE FOUNDATION FOR RETIRED MISSIONARIES

As you and I gather with our family and friends this Christmas season to count our many blessings and look forward to a new year, it’s also a time to stop and think about those who have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord and now, in their retirement years, may not have the same opportunities to enjoy good health and friends in a warm home with tables of food.

Many mission organizations simply don’t have the resources to offer their missionaries retirement savings or pensions.

For retired missionaries like Kent and Linda Ragsdale, they must continue to rely on the faithful donations of generous fellow Christians. Their lives are a testament to the great work missionaries do, and the dire need for a charity like the Foundation for Retired Missionaries.

Kent and Linda met at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. They married and soon followed God’s call to the Haitian mission field in 1959, where they worked with OMS International at Radio 4-VEH on the north coast of Haiti - Kent as a radio engineer and Linda as a secretary for the station.

In 1972 and four children later, they moved to Port-au-Prince where Kent started an audio-visual ministry using Christian films in French and Creole to open doors for spreading the gospel at numerous churches around Haiti. Soon Kent and Linda began working with C.E.E.H. (Concile des Eglises Evangeliques d’Haiti/Evangelical Council of Haitian Churches) under the support of New Life Advance International.

In this capacity, Kent was able to serve many churches and missions throughout Haiti as he worked to provide sound, films, preaching, teaching, and more for special crusades and services.

In addition, Kent and Linda volunteered for Missionary Flights International. They helped with delivery and receipt of the mail and cargo that came and went with each flight by using their home as a mail depot for missionaries and organizations around Haiti.

Kent and Linda also served for many years as support for other missionaries and organizations in various capacities, including maintaining a list of blood types in case of emergency, maintaining HAM radio communications with missionaries in areas where phones were not easily accessible, serving as wardens for the US Embassy, repairing equipment, and much more.

In May 2006, Linda suffered a massive stroke and is now completely immobile. Kent then underwent radiation treatment for prostate cancer in the fall of 2006.

While the cancer is now in remission, it left Kent very weak for quite some time.

These two physical conditions forced the couple to retire suddenly and without preparation. Linda is now bed-ridden at home with 24 hour care.

Kent is active in ministry again, assisting with a new Haitian church plant and with a Sunday afternoon service at a nearby assisted living facility. After 48 years on the field in Haiti, Kent and Linda now live in Florida near their youngest daughter. They have four grown children: Karl, Kris, Kathy, and Karen; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Kent and Linda have been blessed with a fruitful mission, a beautiful family and a wonderful life together.

But like many retired missionaries, their later years have been financially and medically challenging. These missionaries must continue to rely on the loving support of their fellow Christians and FFRM supporters like you.

Please consider making a donation and/or asking your Facebook friends to add the Foundation for Retired Missionaries, and help us share Kent and Linda’s story, and those of other retired missionaries.