My name is Bethany Caldwell and it is my desire to spend my years teaching the Missionary Kids (MKs) of Togo, West Africa. I grew up exploring orchards and roaming the woods with my 5 younger siblings. I also enjoyed helping the younger kids at my K-12 school. Our family motto became There’s always room for one more. I remember countless friends or relatives who stayed with us throughout the years. My parents adopted 3 children as well. The open doors led to open hearts, willing to give beyond ourselves for others.
Valley Baptist Church of Perrydale is my home church. My pastors have been president of Western Baptist College (now Corban University) or head of the theological department there. Our head pastor, Greg Trull, has been at Perrydale for 25 years and has a passion for missions, especially Africa. He has encouraged me in my journey.
My heart wasn’t always excited about being a missionary. In middle school, my youth pastor spoke about being willing to do anything God calls us to. That evening I told God that I would do anything…except go to Africa or be a missionary. In that moment, I knew God wanted me to do just that. I fought Him until my first year of college. There was just no peace in doing things my way, so I half-heartedly surrendered, all the while hoping that one trip would be enough to make Him happy.
The ‘one trip’ came when I headed to the Gambia, West Africa as an MK teacher for a family with 4 MKs needing assistance. I purposely gave ABWE no indication of where to send me. Of course, it was Africa! In less than 2 months, God started to soften my heart. As I worked with the kids, shared their joys and struggles, and saw the difficulties that came with being n MK, I fell in love. I fell in love with the heartaches, the triumphs, the growth, and the hearts of those dear children. Because of this, my ‘one trip’ became 3 years. I caught the vision and the passion, and found my calling.
Togo has at least 20 MKs who need a teacher. The numbers will grow as more families arrive on the field. Presently, the kids are all under the age of 13. That is a lot for the 6 or more moms to teach and care for. I want to come alongside them and teach the older ones, giving the parents some relief and an ability to be more involved in ministering to the people of Togo. Of course, I won’t be teaching all the time and look forward to opportunities to develop friendships with the nationals and missionaries alike, sharing God’s word and love as I try to fill needs and encourage them.
I am looking for brothers and sisters with a passion for God’s work and a heart for the missionaries, missionary kids and the nationals of Togo to partner with me. On March 14th, I became a full-time missionary with ABWE. I am now in the support raising phase. If you are interested in joining me on this journey, be it financially or in prayer, feel free to email me at thewanderer13@gmail.com. I’d love to add you to my mailing (emailing) list. For giving, you can also go to www.abwe.org/give. My ABWE account number is 0190341. Thank you for listening to my story!
The Great Adventure 