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Meet our missionaries
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Danelle & Jonathan Yeo
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Danelle and Jonathan Yeo's
early years seem so similar one would never guess that they had been
raised on opposite ends of the country. Both were raised in God-fearing
Christian homes (Jonathan in New Brunswick, Danelle in British Columbia)
where they came to know the Lord Jesus personally at an early age.
Danelle speaks for both of
them when she says, "God was always a real presence in my life, and my
parents demonstrated how to live for Christ."
Both enjoyed music and
excelled as students. Ironically it was their one difference – sports
– that brought them together. Jonathan is a pilot and was finishing
aviation mechanical licensing at Prairie Bible College (Three Hills, AB)
where he enjoyed playing on a softball team. Danelle's brother, who also
played in the league, was desperate to find the required number of girls
per team and begged his sisters to bail him out, even though they had no
interest in the game. And that is where they met. They were married in
July 2000.
While Danelle's love for
music, especially the clarinet, had overshadowed other interests, for
Jonathan a year in France as a high school exchange student had great
impact. "During my year there I knew God wanted me to be involved in
ministry. He gave me a burden for lost people." Jonathan also considered
going into business after that, but a summer at Bible camp assured him of
his desire to attend New Brunswick Bible Institute in preparation for
missions.
Jonathan's heart was for
Africa and they began the application process. In the last stages of the
process, though, they were still questioning if this was the direction
they were to go. "We prayed and asked God to make it clear to us. He did.
He closed the door on the journey that we had been working on for over two
years."
"When God closed that door, I
was sad for Jonathan," Danelle shares. However, they agreed to look a
little closer at NCEM. "In a very short time things went from ‘looking
into' to applying and being accepted. It was a bit of a whirlwind!"
Danelle dreaded the next stage
-- support raising. But she reasoned, "As it could be said that God is our
employer, He will pay our salary, and He is the One who said that a worker
is worthy of his wages. So I guess I can trust Him to pay our way.
"And He does! I am always amazed at the
people God uses to keep us here with our three young children (#4 due in
May!) in Fort Liard, NWT. It really is a team effort. Jonathan has
discovered that he enjoys deputation and meeting new people, and we quite
look forward to visiting our supporters. My most dreaded part of missions
has turned out not so bad after all!"
Click here to meet more of our
missionaries
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